Tulane Green Wave 2026 Season Preview

The one genuine question is behind center. Last season's starter has moved on, and the job is open between two transfers who spent 2025 watching. Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, who arrived from Houston, is the athletic option, an electric runner clocked around 22 mph who started for the Cougars in 2024 before losing the job. Kadin Semonza offers the more polished passing profile after a productive 2024 at Ball State, where he threw for nearly 2,900 yards, though he sat as a reserve once he transferred in.

Neither has shown he can carry a contender, and the preseason read is blunt. If the quarterback play is merely competent, this team can win the league again. If it is not, everything else is moot.

The receiving corps returns its top two producers. Anthony Brown-Stephens led the group with 41 catches for 523 yards and two scores, and Zycarl Lewis Jr. chipped in 24 grabs for 330 yards as a young contributor. The room lost its leading wideout to the Big Ten but replaced that speed with LSU transfer Destyn Hill, who brings the vertical element the offense lacked a year ago. Oregon transfer Ty Thompson, a converted quarterback, and freshman Gabe Lovorn headline a tight end group still sorting itself out.

The backfield is the strength of the offense and should ease the transition for whoever wins the job. Jamauri McClure emerged late, buried on the depth chart early before averaging 98 rushing yards and 6.5 per carry over the final five games. He is regarded as the most talented back the program has developed since Tyjae Spears ran for more than 1,500 yards in 2022. Maurice Turner won the starting job out of camp last preseason before a high ankle sprain in the opener cost him the year, and he was among the hardest men to bring down this spring. Florida State transfer Jaylin Lucas adds a third versatile runner and receiver, and the staff expects to lean on multiple backs, potentially two at once.

The line is the clearest concern. Reese Baker is the only returning starter, and he has kicked inside to guard from tackle. Center John Bock II arrives from Florida International with more than 20 career starts to steady a unit that lost four starters and lacks proven depth.

Up front the Green Wave lost five linemen to Power 4 programs, an alarming number on paper, but the group was deep enough that the staff expects little drop-off. Several backups who rarely saw the field were considered good enough to start elsewhere. Gerrod Henderson anchors the edge as the best returning pass rusher, back after a midseason knee injury, while South Alabama transfer Ed Smith and Derrick Shepard Jr. supply size on the interior. Four more transfers were added to backfill the departures, and a host of former reserves had a strong spring.

Linebacker may be the best unit on the team, and it stayed intact after Hall promoted position coach Tayler Polk to defensive coordinator. Chris Rodgers finished second on the team with 80 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown in the conference championship game. Dickson Agu was leading the team with 36 stops before a knee injury ended his season five games in, and his return restores a downhill presence in the middle.

The secondary is stacked, particularly at safety. Jack Tchienchou piled up 83 tackles and was named the defensive most valuable player of the American championship game, earning first-team all-conference honors. Kevin Adams III quietly made 53 tackles, fourth on the team, without ever starting. Cornerback E'Zaiah Shine took his lumps as a first-year full-time starter but should benefit from the experience, and Texas Tech transfer Marquez Stevenson, a promising cover man slowed by a shoulder injury, is the newcomer the staff most needed after losing its top corner to the SEC. Six of the top 10 tacklers are back.

Kicking looks settled. Jackson Courville connected on 26 of 34 field goals across two seasons at Ball State, including a pair from beyond 50 in 2024, and he spent last year at Ohio State. Punting is the open question, with walk-on William Hudlow competing against an incoming freshman. Lucas gives the return game a legitimate threat.