Lane Kiffin’s Surprising Admiration for Tulane’s Jon Sumrall Reveals Untold Rivalry Secrets

When two undefeated teams meet, with each boasting a résumé that includes wins over power conference foes, you know this Saturday’s showdown in Oxford isn’t just another game — it’s a chess match with stakes sky-high. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin isn’t just tipping his hat to Tulane’s head coach Jon Sumrall; he’s practically forecasting a future SEC rivalry beyond this season. What’s behind Kiffin’s glowing praise? Discipline, toughness, and a winning blueprint that Sumrall has been crafting for years, turning underdog programs into contenders. Is Tulane’s rising star merely a flash in the pan, or is Sumrall destined to shake up the SEC coaching landscape in a big way? As kickoff approaches, one can’t help but wonder: are we witnessing the dawn of a new coaching titan’s era? LEARN MORE.

Ahead of this weekend’s clash between his Ole Miss football team and Tulane, Rebels coach Lane Kiffin heaped praise on the Green Wave’s head coach, Jon Sumrall.

Both teams enter Saturday’s matchup in Oxford with undefeated records and the relatively uncommon distinction of already having two wins over power conference opponents; Ole Miss defeated Kentucky in Lexington before last week’s win over Arkansas, while Tulane beat Northwestern in Week 1 and Duke last Saturday.

And while most coaches are pretty complimentary of the other team, being careful not to show disrespect and provide any bulletin-board material, Kiffin took it a step further and explicitly predicted that he will be seeing Sumrall a lot more following this year.

“I told my staff yesterday, I said, ‘I feel like I’m going to be in head coach’s meetings in the conference’ — I think our first one is in January — ‘with Coach Sumrall,’” Kiffin said, via On3’s Griffin McVeigh.

“His teams are really disciplined,” Kiffin added. “They play really hard, they tackle really well. He’s got a really good fundamental defensive system. And he wins.”

That, he does.

Sumrall, a 43-year-old native of Huntsville, Alabama, played at Kentucky, where he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2005.

Over the course of the subsequent 15 or so years, he went out west to San Diego, down to New Orleans for a stint as a Tulane assistant, back to his home state for an assistant job with Troy, and then returned to the SEC with a one-year stint at Ole Miss (before Kiffin’s arrival) and three more years at his alma mater.

Once he became a head coach — he was hired at Troy in December 2021 — Sumrall hit the ground running, so to speak. The Trojans went 12-2 in his first season and then 11-2 in his second, winning the Sun Belt both years, before he accepted the head coaching job at Tulane in December 2023.

John Sumrall's coaching at Tulane is impressive, with many believing he'll soon be leading an SEC team like Arkansas, Florida, or Kentucky. #CollegeFootball #SEC pic.twitter.com/yBpJukEMtX

— Steven Willis (@TheStevenWillis) September 17, 2025

With the Green Wave, things went quite well in Year 1; Sumrall led Tulane to a 9-5 record, an AAC Championship Game berth, and a bowl game. The last first-year Tulane coach to lead the Wave to a bowl appearance had been Vance Gibson in 1980.

Kickoff between Tulane and Ole Miss in Oxford is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.

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