$81 Million SEC Coach Tipped to Be Replaced by 'Hot' Tulane Newcomer

Jon Sumrall is 42 years old and in his third year as a collegiate head coach, and he has certainly made serious waves around the sport. No pun intended there--he has the Tulane Green Wave sitting at 9-2 on the season, undefeated and tied for first place in the American Athletic Conference. 

It would take a wild turn of events, but it remains possible for Tulane to win out, scoring a big win over Army in the AAC champinoship game, and find itself in the 12-team College Football Playoff field. 

This comes after two seasons with Troy in which Sumrall went 23-4 and got the Trojans their first-ever postseason ranking in the AP poll, when they were No. 19 in 2022. 

Sumrall is young, he is energetic and he has shown the capability to mold various rosters into units greater than the sum of their parts. Despite only coaching in New Orleans for one season, Sumrall is already being pegged for a bigger job, perhaps following last year's Tulane coach, Willie Fritz, who landed at Houston. 

But Sumrall could outdo Fritz. That's because he is being mentioned for SEC jobs. As SEC guru Paul Finebaum said earlier this month, “I don’t know him that well, but I’ve interviewed him. I’ve heard Sumrall’s name privately mentioned for two different SEC jobs that are not open at the moment. That’s how hot he is about to become."  

It is probably not difficult to figure out at least one of those SEC jobs: Kentucky. The Wildcats have been led by Mark Stoops for 12 seasons, and with a 77-71 record, he is the winningest coach in the program's history, passing Bear Bryant. 

Stoops has a big-time contract, making a little more than $9 million per year, which ranks ninth in the nation, according to USA Today. That goes back to a nine-year extension he signed in 2022, giving him a potential payout of more than $81 million.  

While Stoops is the program's top coach, he has had his eye on other jobs, and with a record of 18-18 over the last three years, UK might be ready to move on, too. And Sumrall played for Kentucky before he was a defensive assistant to Stoops for three seasons, from 2019-21.

At The Oklahoman, the notion of Sumrall replacing Stoops gained some steam.

"The challenges of the Kentucky job have seemed to wear on Stoops," the paper's Joe Mussatto wrote. "He dismissed rumors that he might retire, but don’t be surprised if Stoops wants a change of scenery. ...

"As crazy as it sounds, Kentucky fans are ready for Stoops to step aside. Big Blue Nation wants Tulane coach Jon Sumrall back in the Bluegrass, only this time as head coach. Sumrall played at UK and coached under Stoops."

Sumrall and Tulane close out their regular-season schedule on Saturday against Memphis.