It was one of those moments you can’t script.
Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall stepped into his weekly press conference wearing a bold green RMFW shirt under a light blue hoodie, the four oversized letters immediately catching the room’s attention. Before anyone asked, the true meaning was already circulating: Roll Mother F—ing Wave.
But Sumrall wasn’t about to say it outright. Instead, he found a humorous interpretation.
“Mother flipping. Yeah, that’s what I tell my mom at least. She’s not pleased,” he said with a grin, the room cracking up at the delivery. Afterward, he did note that the hoodies are for sale and they’ll “gladly take your business.”
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The laughter faded quickly as Sumrall shifted to a far more emotional topic, the Celebration of Life held earlier in the week for former Tulane strength coach Kurt Hester. He sadly passed away at the age of 61 due to melanoma in October.
“You cannot overstate the difference Kurt made in so many people’s lives,” Sumrall said. “He helped redefine what Tulane football was. The year before he got here, it was a two-win team. Since his arrival, this program has been on solid footing. His legacy lives on here at Tulane football and quite frankly, will forever.”
He credited Hester for steadying the program during the transition from Willie Fritz, calling him “pivotal,” “a great human,” and “a model for how you invest in people.”
Once the conversation returned to football, Sumrall’s tone sharpened. The Green Wave may be coming off a ranked win over Memphis, but he made clear complacency isn’t part of the plan.
“Anytime you start to feel like a previous result gives you a right to a future result, good luck,” he said. “They don’t go out at the coin toss and say, ‘You’ve got the better record, you win.’ You’ve got to go earn it.”
He praised quarterback Jake Retzlaff, calling him “a backyard football player…a tough dude…got a little moxie about him. He’s got some grit, some toughness…got a little boo-boo, went in the tent, came right back out.”
Even with RMFW hoodies going viral, Sumrall kept the focus on identity.
“You prepare the right way, play the right way, and do your job at an elite level,” he said. “That’s who we are.”
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