Jon Sumrall wise to stay at Tulane after contract extension with Green Wave

The Tulane Green Wave announced that they'd agreed to a contract extension with head coach Jon Sumrall on Monday, locking up one of the top coaching prospects in college football for at least another season.

"The landscape of college athletics is constantly evolving, and Jon's vision helps to position us to succeed in this rapidly changing environment," Tulane athletic director David Harris said.

Sumrall is widely seen in the industry as one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the sport, and he's a virtual lock to get a power four job at some point in the very near future. But in the short term, staying with the Green Wave was undoubtedly the right call.

The job that Sumrall has been most consistently linked to is North Carolina, but the coach had also been seen as a top candidate at West Virginia, as well. But, while both of those jobs are certainly an upgrade in prestige over staying at Tulane, that might be where the benefits end.

The Green Wave have become one of the most well-resourced programs in the group of five; their NIL system has helped to produce three straight nine-plus win seasons after decades of futility in New Orleans. As a result, Tulane has gone from a perennial doormat to routinely landing classes that rank in the 60s and 70s, a massive upgrade for them.

Neither West Virginia nor North Carolina have a financial situation that is as stable as the one in New Orleans right now. The Mountaineers hung on to former head coach Neal Brown for as long as they did largely because of his sizable contract buyout, while the Tar Heels' NIL program was the subject of criticism from then-head coach Mack Brown before the start of this season.

If you're Sumrall, a man who is sure to garner interest from SEC jobs in the very near future, would you rather stay and continue to build at a place where they've already shown an interest and ability to invest in football, or would you go to a more prestigious school where the money you need to succeed is hardly guaranteed, and will require a lot more effort to get?

That's not to say either of those jobs are bad; both West Virginia and North Carolina could have the potential to grow into contenders in the future. But right now, both programs have work to do to get to where they want to go in the modern landscape of the sport.

Staying at Tulane in the short term makes the most sense, as it allows Sumrall to build in a place he's had success, while waiting for a job that he feels would be the best fit for him.

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