Will Hall has hired former Samford head coach Chris Hatcher on his new Tulane staff, FootballScoop has learned.
Hatcher is serving as Tulane's chief of staff, sources said. He has been on the ground and working as Tulane finished up a nice "portal season" during this transition.
Hall, 45, and Hatcher, 52, have not worked together previously, but have run in the same circles for the majority of their careers. Furthermore, incoming Green Wave offensive coordinator Russ Callaway coached under Hatcher at Murray State and Samford from 2013-19. On staff as part of Alabama's 2011-12 national title teams, Callaway transitioned to coaching wide receivers under Hatcher and eventually became his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Hatcher and Hall each were selected the Harlon Hill award winner (considered the Division II Heisman equivalent) from their days quarterbacking Valdosta State and North Alabama. Leaders among men.
Hatcher played quarterback at Valdosta State in the early 1990s and became the head coach at his alma mater as a 27-year-old in 2000. He went 76-12 with a Division II national championship there from 2000-06, and then went 18-15 at Georgia Southern from 2007-09, 27-30 from 2010-14 at Murray State, and would go on to become the winningest coach in Samford history over the next eleven seasons. Hatcher led the Bulldogs to the FCS quarterfinals in 2022.
Hall spent 2011-16 as a Division II head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia, then spent the past near-decade at Louisiana, Memphis, Tulane and Southern Miss before returning to Tulane as passing game coordinator ahead of the 2025 season. He was named head coach by the Green Wave on Dec. 8 after Jon Sumrall landed the Florida job, and assumed control of the program after Tulane's loss to Ole Miss in the CFP first round on Saturday.
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