The Tulane Green Wave are seeing a lot of players enter the portal. So is nearly every competitive program in college football at any level.
It’s harder than ever to be a consistent fan in today’s age of college football. There’s no ability to get attached to a roster, coach, or player. The second those teams see success, greener pastures come calling. The Tulane Green Wave are seeing those ripple effects as several players declare entry for the portal. Are they any worse off than this time last season? Or than the schools around them?
The Green Wave had five returning starters in the 2025 season. They had just gone to their third consecutive American Conference title game and were poised to run it back. Then they lost their starting quarterback, star running back, tight end, and half the defense to the transfer portal. The entire right side of the offensive line graduated, as did their top three starting wide receivers. But what about continuity? Tulane had their head coach coming back, and mainly the entire coaching staff. They had to replace their o-line and safeties coaches. Ironically, those two positions saw complete retention of starters in the portal last season.
One of the primary arguments for Jon Sumrall’s replacement, Will Hall, was continuity. What continuity? Is that even a possibility in the current landscape of the sport?
Gone are the days where players that saw a five-season turnaround will remain to see the end of it out. The players like Bryce Bohanon and Slim Despanie simply won’t exist on a Green Wave roster. Once players start to produce, then the Power Four and those paydays start calling.
But as pointed out earlier, the team had five returners last season. Every other starter for the most part came exactly out of the portal that decimated last year’s roster. It’s a give-and-take game that no teams are immune from. The JMU Dukes just made the College Football Playoff. In exchange, they also lost their head coach, half their roster, and their starting quarterback to the portal. Half of the players on the previous rosters followed former coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana. It simply is unavoidable for teams that find success.
It may seem worse at the Group of Five level, but the Power Four is losing starters left and right. Several of the players for Tulane that have entered the portal were ones that they got from Power Four programs, like Shazz Preston from Alabama, and Harvey Dyson and Tre’Von McAlpine from Texas Tech. There is sort of a system now where discarded P4 players that couldn’t find a spot on the playing field are looking for a new home. Tulane can be an enticing next home. But it might not be their permanent one.
And at some point, that just kinda has to be okay. It’s hard to see all of this news and not see the other side of it. Players can declare their intent to enter the portal but can’t officially until Jan. 2. Which means any presumed replacement for the departing Tulane players will have to wait until then. In the meantime, linebacker Chris Rodgers and running back Jamauri McClure will be formative players for the program next season. Their commitment is a core of the team that will eventually grow, but patience will be required.