Blake Baker’s staying put. Jason Candle is headed to Connecticut.
What’s the next move in Tulane University’s coaching search to replace the departing Jon Sumrall, who will coach at least one more game atop the Green Wave following Friday’s emphatic American Conference Championship win.
That contest sets up Tulane’s immediate future for unprecedented opportunity; it will receive a bid Sunday as an automatic qualifier for the College Football Playoff’s 12-team field.
Big picture Tulane football?
Well, while additional contenders could emerge, it seems Tulane’s focus centers on first-year Kennesaw State head coach Jerry Mack and internal candidate Will Hall, a career 70-game winner from his time in the NCAA Division II ranks and also at Southern Miss.
But Mack is surging into the national mainstream amidst a historic season leading Kennesaw State, still in its fledgling days as an Football Bowls Subdivision program.
Mack’s Owls polished off Jacksonville State Friday night to win the Conference USA Championship game.
The win marked the 10th on the year for the Owls, who hired Mack away from the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and gave him his first-ever FBS head coaching opportunity.
All Mack has done in response is deliver history. After a narrow opening loss at ACC program Wake Forest, an eventual eight-game winner, and a defeat at CFP No. 2-ranked Indiana, Mack’s Owls have reeled off 10 wins in their last 11 games.
The C-USA title marked the program’s first, capped a college football-historic turnaround from a 2-10 2024 season and further cemented Mack’s ascension. He previously won HBCU National Championships atop North Carolina Central.
Additionally, Mack has been an FBS offensive coordinator at Rice and also was a top-level assistant for Josh Heupel at the University of Tennessee.
Mack has posted a 41-18 career mark as an NCAA head coach.
If Tulane were to land Mack, one would think that hire would continue to build upon the excitement currently boiling over in Uptown New Orleans.
Tulane has emerged as the newest de facto Group of Six Superpower. The Green Wave has won more than 40 games in the past four seasons; Willie Fritz, now Houston’s head coach and also architect this year of one of college football’s top turnarounds, and Sumrall each have had double-digit win campaigns.
A bit more about Jerry Mack from Kennesaw State University:
Jerry Mack, a veteran collegiate coach with 20 years of experience and five conference championships, was named the second football head coach in Kennesaw State history, on Dec. 1, 2024.
Mack comes to Kennesaw after a season as the running backs coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars and three seasons as the running backs coach at Tennessee.
“After an extensive national search, I would like to welcome coach Jerry Mack, his wife, Starlett, and family to Owl Nation as our head football coach,” said Director of Athletics Milton Overton. “Coach Mack’s values and professional qualifications align with the strategic direction of our football program. He has 20 years of coaching experience at all levels, has shown a longstanding ability to connect with players, and owns a relentless recruiting mindset. Coach Mack has proven experience running up-tempo and productive offensive schemes.”
“My family and I are extremely excited to join the Owl family! I want to thank Director of Athletics Milton Overton and President Kathy Schwaig for this phenomenal opportunity. KSU is one of the fastest-growing institutions in the country with no ceiling on the potential opportunities it presents for our student-athletes,” said Mack. “I am grateful and honored to be entrusted as the leader and standard bearer of our team. I’m looking forward to helping our young men build on the success of our program, obtain degrees, win championships, and develop into great citizens that our KSU family will be proud of.”
Tennessee compiled a 27-12 record with Mack on staff, providing an immediate impact in his first season in Knoxville. Thanks to a bevy of backs and an electric, up-tempo offense, Tennessee jumped 73 spots in the FBS over its previous year to rank 11th nationally in Mack’s first season, putting up 217.8 rushing yards per game in 2021.
The Vols shattered eight offensive records in 2021 and ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring offense (39.3 – seventh), total offense (474.9 – ninth), rushing offense (217.8 – 11th), offensive yards per play (6.5 – 17th) and third down offense (44.7 – 25th).
