The Tulane head coaching job is one of the better Group of 5 ones, thanks to the successful tenure of Willie Fritz. His first six seasons in New Orleans were solid but didn’t yield eye-catching results. Then, in 2022, the Green Wave went 12-2, beat USC in the Cotton Bowl and finished No. 9 in the country. A year later, they went 11-2 before he left for Houston.

After Fritz left, Jon Sumrall came in and went 19-7, with a College Football Playoff berth possible this Friday by winning the American championship.

On Sunday, though, Florida announced it was hiring Sumrall, who, according to a source, will be able to coach in the Playoff should his team make it. So who are the contenders for the Tulane vacancy? It has attracted some of the more successful mid-major head coaches, as well as some of the top assistants in college football.

LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, 43, is a former Tulane linebacker and definitely a person of interest in the search, I hear. Baker, who had coached on the LSU staff in 2021, returned to Baton Rouge as D-coordinator last year and sparked significant improvement in a then-woeful unit. Before that, he’d done an outstanding job as Missouri’s DC. New LSU coach Lane Kiffin wants to retain Baker, but a return to his alma mater to get his head coaching career going figures to be tough to turn down if Tulane brass is ready to give him the keys.

Another coordinator with strong local ties I expect to garner interest is Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. Last year, his offense led the country in yards per play, and he helped transform Cam Ward from a projected fifth-round pick to the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. The 48-year-old Dawson spent four years at Houston before joining the Miami staff.

Oregon co-defensive coordinator Chris Hampton, who might end up as the Ducks’ new DC if Tosh Lupoi gets a head coaching job this winter, could get a look here too. The 39-year-old from Memphis, Tenn., was the DC for Fritz as he turned around the Green Wave, and Hampton had been on the staff as the defensive backs coach for four seasons before a season at Duke in between his stints at Tulane. In Eugene, he’s done an impressive job on Dan Lanning’s staff.

There is a trio of strong mid-major head coaches I expect Tulane to consider, too.

Southern Miss’ Charles Huff has had a strong debut season at what was a downtrodden program, going 7-5 at a place that had won a total of four games over the previous two years. The 42-year-old former Alabama assistant did a very good job at Marshall, where he won the Sun Belt championship last year.

FIU’s Willie Simmons has also made a big impact fast at his new program, getting the Panthers to 7-5 — the school’s first winning season since 2018. The 45-year-old, who had previous stops at Prairie View A&M and Florida A&M, is 73-29 in his career. In 2023, his last season at FAMU, his team went 12-1, especially impressive since the Rattlers had endured six consecutive losing seasons before Simmons took over.

Western Kentucky’s Tyson Helton, 48, has been a consistent winner in Conference USA, going 56-36. He’s had five consecutive winning seasons (at least eight wins in each) and has the Hilltoppers at 8-4.

One wild-card candidate to keep an eye on is former Florida coach Billy Napier, whom Sumrall is replacing. The 46-year-old Napier was excellent at Louisiana, going 40-12, but in less than four seasons in Gainesville, he went 22-23 and struggled to get traction.