UPDATED–Livingston joins elite group of area coaches to win state title as player, coach

The new additions to the list are Jesuit players and coaches, including Bret Hanemann, who won state championships in swimming in 1983 and 1984 and has won multiple state titles as the Blue Jays head swim coach.

David Moreau who won as a baseball player at De La Salle in 1977 and won three state titles as the head baseball coach at Jesuit.

There are several who won state titles as head coaches and as players is a trio from Brother Martin.

Barry Hebert served as a quarterback on the 1971 Brother Martin football team and was the head coach of the 1984 and 1996 baseball state championship team of the Crusaders.

Robbie Dauterive wrestled on state championship teams and led the Crusaders to multiple state championships, both at Brother Martin.

The same is true of Kenny Spellman as a wrestler and as the head wrestling coach.

Ryan Gallagher was a runner on the 1998/1999 Brother Martin cross country state champions and was the head coach of the 2007 Brother Martin cross country state championship team.

Thanks to our friend Kevin Fayard, a great historian of John Curtis Christian high school and the voice of Patriots athletics on the web, there are several additions to our list and all but one are from the storied athletic programs of the River Ridge School.

Preston Curtis won multiple state championships as a football player at Curtis before guiding the Patriots to multiple boys and girls state titles in track and field and cross country.

Jerry Godfrey, who starred at John Curtis and Tulane, won as a state championship offensive lineman in 1993 and has presided over a dynasty in softball at Curtis, winning six state championships.

Johnny Curtis won state titles as a baseball and football player at John Curtis and won as a head baseball coach with the Patriots.

The same is true of Jeff Curtis, who won as a baseball and football player at Curtis and as the head baseball coach of the Patriots.

Kristy Fried Hebert won state championships as a basketball player and as a softball player at Ridgewood and coached John Curtis Christian to five state titles in softball.

Joe Schick was part of the basketball teams that Joey Stiebing was on at Archbishop Rummel, which won basketball state titles in 1977 and 1978 and Schick went on to coach John Ehret to a state basketball championship in 1993.

Matt Millet won a state title in soccer as a player at De La Salle in 1994 and has guided Holy Cross to four state championships as its head soccer coach.

When Randy Livingston led his alma mater Newman to the Division III state championship this past Saturday in Lafayette, he joined an elite group of New Orleans area coaches to have won a state title as a player and as a coach.

Among those that Crescent City Sports has tracked, there are five men and two women to have done so while an eighth player/coach had a unique football/basketball state championship combination.

There may be others and we encourage all to send to us any others from the New Orleans area who have accomplished the feat.

Additionally, three of those have accomplished the feats as players and coaches at their alma maters.

Here they are in alphabetical order:

Barbara Farris won as a player at St. Martin’s Episcopal in 1993 and 1994 and won as the head coach at John Curtis Christian in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Billy Fitzgerald won as a player at Jesuit in 1964 and 1965 as the head coach at Newman in 2000 and in 2003.

Darren Laiche won at Archbishop Shaw as a player in 1989 and won as the head coach at his alma mater in 1997 and again in 2000, though the latter title was later vacated.

Randy Livingston won at Newman as a player in 1991, 1992 and 1993 and as the head coach at his alma mater in 2022.

Mary Ann Marino won as a player at Ridgewood in 1991 and won as the head coach at Ridgewood in 2000.

Andy Russo won at Fortier as player in 1956, beating De La Salle 66-56 in the state championship game and won as the head coach at Brother Martin in 1970 and in 1971.

Joey Stiebing won as a player at Archbishop Rummel in 1977 and 1978 and as the head coach at Archbishop Shaw in 1989.

Then, there is Timmy Byrd, who won as a quarterback at East St. John in 1980 and as the head coach at Reserve Christian and at Riverside Academy, winning 12 state championships overall between his two head coaching stops.

Taurus Howard of Karr has a shot at joining the elite list who have achieved the daily double. Howard won a state title as a player at Karr in 1994 and has his Cougars in the Class 4A semifinals this Wednesday in Lake Charles against McMain.