Native sons Johnson, Fertitta return to New Orleans with Florida State to take on LSU

The chips are on the table and the stakes are high.

The winner of Sunday evening’s battle between LSU and Florida State will likely carry that momentum on to a successful season while the loser may see their hopes of a successful season on the brink quickly.

LSU remains a slight favorite to win in familiar territory at the sold out Caesars Superdome. When last we saw the Tigers in that facility, they were capturing a national championship under Ed Orgeron.

The euphoria of the 2019 season quickly dissipated into despair in truly stunning, remarkable fashion as LSU became a mediocre program in virtually no time.

That led to the exit of Orgeron and the entrance of Brian Kelly.

While Kelly is clearly credited with an outstanding head coach record prior to arriving in Baton Rouge and while he has put together a good staff, building the program back up to elite status as was the case with Nick Saban, Les Miles and Orgeron, all of whom captured national championships, will clearly take time.

When LSU won a national championship in 2019, the Tigers had a great quarterback in Joe Burrow, now a star with the Cincinnati Bengals, who won the Heisman Trophy.

The hiring of a good staff by Kelly has expedited the process of returning to prominence.

At Florida State, Mike Norvell has retooled his staff over the last couple of seasons in an attempt to restore the Seminoles as a national level program, which they were under Bobby Bowden (2) and later under Jimbo Fisher (1), winning three national tiles.

The last time Florida State won a national championship, Jameis Winston was the quarterback. Winston, now starting for the New Orleans Saints, won the Heisman Trophy.

The similarities with LSU are striking.

If Norvell is to enjoy that level of success, he will do so with a pair of New Orleans natives on his staff contributing in significant fashion.

David Johnson is set to return home.

A native of New Orleans, Johnson serves as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator for Florida State.

Johnson, who played at John F. Kennedy and Nicholls State, previously coached at Tulane, Millsaps, Tennessee and Memphis.

On the high school level, Johnson coached at John F. Kennedy and O. Perry Walker before becoming the head coach at St. Augustine from 2009-11, winning a pair of Catholic League championships.

Gabe Fertitta is also a native of New Orleans, serving as a senior offensive analyst for the Seminoles.

After playing at Holy Cross and Mississippi College, Fertitta coached at Itawamba Community College but he is most noted for his outstanding record as a high school head coach. Fertitta then served as an assistant at Louisville in 2021.

Fertitta was the head coach at St. Stanislaus but left for the same role at Catholic High of Baton Rouge, winning a pair of Louisiana state titles on the field.

It was thoroughly enjoyable to cover and work with Johnson and Fertitta while covering their high school teams and with Johnson, at Tulane as well. It is no surprise that they have enjoyed the success they have had.

Johnson and Fertitta will enjoy being back home for a few days.

It is Kelly’s job to make sure that the Crescent City natives don’t enjoy the experience Sunday night.