TJ Finley arrest: Tulane coach Jon Sumrall publicly addresses incident

Former Auburn and LSU quarterback TJ Finley was arrested Thursday on charges connected to the robbery of a car. The current Tulane gunslinger has been suspended from the team.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall commented on the issue Thursday morning. However, he was unable to reveal much.

“Legally I can’t, I’m not in a position to be able to dive into it,” Sumrall said, per Garland Gillen of FOX 8. “When things happen off the field it’s unfortunate, and I’ll let the statement stick for what it is. But when guys make mistakes they have to have accountability.”

Tulane released a statement on Thursday morning following the news breaking, indicating that TJ Finley would be suspended. It was short and to the point.

“We are aware of the situation involving TJ Finley,” the statement read. “He has been suspended from the football program pending the outcome of the case. Due to federal laws governing student privacy, we will not disclose any additional information regarding the student, including information related to the disciplinary proceedings.”

Following his arrest, TJ Finley was booked into and subsequently released from jail. According to court documents, Finley had told police that he had recently purchased the car in Atlanta. However, authorities reportedly booked him for being in possession of an item which was stolen at a value of more than $25,000.

Finley hit the NCAA transfer portal for a third consecutive offseason back in December. He transferred to Tulane to be the likely replacement for Darian Mensah (Duke).

With his transfer, TJ Finley was ranked as the No. 729 overall transfer and the No. 57 QB per On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players. That’s after previous stops he made at Western Kentucky, Texas State, Auburn, and LSU.

In total over his half-decade in college with all those programs, Finley has completed 63% of his throws for 6,128 yards, 37 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He was only a consistent starter at one of those stops, though, with the Bobcats in ’23 where Finley posted career-best stats with 67.4% completion for 3,439 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions while also rushing for eight more scores.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this report.