Jake Retzlaff is embracing some new nicknames.
“BYJew” is an endearment of the past. Now, “Kosher Cannon,” “Shabbat Shotgun” and “Bayou Jew” are among the monikers mentioned by the sizeable Jewish community at Retzlaff’s new school, Tulane.
It’s a fresh start for Retzlaff, but one the former BYU quarterback wasn’t necessarily seeking until May, when he was named in a since-dismissed civil sexual assault lawsuit.
Retzlaff maintains that he loved playing for the Cougars, despite being one of very few Jews on BYU’s predominantly Mormon campus in Provo, Utah.
“BYU was an amazing place. It made me into an amazing human being. I feel like it helped me grow in so many ways on and especially off the field,” Retzlaff said, wearing a Star of David on a chain around his neck. “It helped me connect stronger with my faith than I did before, because I was in a place where it was so faith-oriented that it was just right in front of you.”
Retzlaff went 11-2 as a starter for a 2024 BYU team that finished the season at No. 13 in the final AP Top 25 Poll.
His decision to withdraw came while he reportedly faced a suspension for acknowledging what he described as a consensual sexual relationship while defending himself against the lawsuit. The university’s honor code requires students to abstain from premarital sex.
Speaking on Friday for the first time since arriving at Tulane about a week ago, Retzlaff declined to address the factors that led him to leave BYU, where he spent the past two years.
“I’m just worried about where my feet are,” Retzlaff said. “I’m just worried about this next chapter, being at Tulane, winning football games.”
Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said the university’s administration vetted Retzlaff before clearing the way for Sumrall to bring him to the Green Wave, where he’ll now have to outperform three other transfer QBs — Kadin Semonza from Ball State, Donovan Leary from Illinois and Brendan Sullivan from Iowa — to win the starting job.
“I was very transparent with the guys in the (quarterback) room. I was also very up front with Jake,” Sumrall said. “None of them were promised anything in regards to who’s going to start.”
Retzlaff said he had other offers, but remembered fondly his recruitment by the then-coach of Troy in 2023 — Sumrall.
Retzlaff recalled telling his father, Steve, that he could envision playing for Sumrall one day.
“I knew he’s a guy I want to be around,” Retzlaff said.
Tulane didn’t have a scholarship available for Ratzlaff, but the 22-year-old graduate transfer said that being a walk-on suits him because he plays with a chip on his shoulder and doesn’t want to be short-sighted about money at the expense of setting himself up for long-term success.
“I know that I’m going to get what I deserve, hopefully, at the next level,” Retzlaff said. “If that means sacrificing a little bit of money on my side (now) .. so what? Let’s go win football games.”
First, he has to learn a new offense, which he said has meant a lot of late nights. He also is working to acclimatize himself to oppressively hot, heavy air of swampy south Louisiana in the summer, even wearing a sweat absorbent wrist band on his throwing arm for the first time.
“I’m soaked right now,” he said after practice, contrasting his new home to the cooler, mountainous, semi-arid Salt Lake area. “I haven’t sweat this much in my life.”
One adjustment he won’t mind is being on a campus where around 40% of students are Jewish.
“It’s a cool deal. It’s so opposite” from BYU, Retzlaff said. “My faith is super important to me. So, that fact just made it that much sweeter to come here.”
He said he’s felt welcome in the locker room as well.
“The guys have been nothing but great to me — every guy on the team and especially the quarterback room,” Retzlaff said, noting that he has tried to eat each meal of each day with different players in an effort to get to know them better.
Whoever plays quarterback for Tulane will do so for a team that has appeared in three straight American Conference title games, but also had a lot of turnover after last season — including the loss of one-year starter Darian Mensah to Duke in the transfer portal.
Sumrall not only isn’t projecting Mensah’s replacement, but said he might play two quarterbacks in the Green Wave’s season opener against Northwestern in New Orleans on Aug. 30.
“No matter what, this is a new chapter in my life,” Retzlaff said. “I’m excited to attack it and make the most of it.”
READ MORE:FULL INTERVIEW: Jake Retzlaff still loves BYU but expresses faith in his fresh start at Tulane
