Gabe Fertitta Returns to Florida State as Director of Football Strategy

Gabe Fertitta will rejoin Mike Norvell’s staff at Florida State as Director of Football Strategy and Offensive Assistant Coach, the program announced this week, returning after a one-season run as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Nicholls State. Multiple outlets first reported the move on Feb. 9, and Florida State’s announcement followed later in the week.

“I’m excited to have Gabe and his family back in Tallahassee,” Norvell said in a release. “Gabe brings valuable perspective from his experience as a head coach and offensive coordinator, and he has a familiarity with our program that will allow him to have an immediate impact.” Fertitta’s title is listed across reports as Director of Football Strategy and Offensive Assistant Coach, and the hire is framed as a reunion with Norvell after Fertitta spent 2022-24 on Norvell’s staff as a senior offensive analyst.

Fertitta arrives into a reshuffled Seminoles offensive staff. Gus Malzahn retired after one season as Florida State’s offensive coordinator, and Tim Harris Jr. has been elevated to offensive coordinator. With Malzahn stepping away from the sport, Norvell is expected to take over play-calling duties while Fertitta is described as assisting Norvell and serving as a key support piece for Harris Jr. The program’s release and reporting emphasize Fertitta’s role in strategy and offensive support rather than outlining a specific day-to-day position group assignment.

The 2025 results that Fertitta brings back to Tallahassee are stark: Nicholls State finished 4-8, and the offense averaged 18.3 points and 307.4 yards per game, 4.9 yards per play, with a rushing average of 141.9 yards per game at 4.0 yards per carry. Those figures provide a statistical snapshot of the season Fertitta just completed as Nicholls’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before departing for FSU.

Fertitta’s prior work inside the Seminoles program includes three seasons as a senior offensive analyst from 2022 to 2024, during which he worked with the offensive line and even served as interim offensive line coach when Alex Atkins was suspended for the season opener in 2024 due to NCAA violations. Reports note Atkins was later fired during the 2024 season; Fertitta’s willingness to step into on-field duties in 2024 is part of the staff familiarity Norvell cited.

His coaching résumé also includes a quality control role at Louisville in 2021 and a successful run in Louisiana high school football. As head coach at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Fertitta went 43-8 over four seasons, reached the state title game each year, and won state championships in 2017 and 2020. He also spent three seasons at St. Stanislaus on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with a best season of 12-1 in 2013; his overall high school head coaching mark is reported as 59-25 and includes developing players who advanced to college and the NFL.

“My family and I are extremely grateful to Coach Norvell and the Florida State administration for this opportunity to return,” Fertitta said in the program release. “I look forward to working with the outstanding young men in our program, not only to develop them as players but also to guide them into becoming great representatives of Florida State University.” The release did not specify contract length, an exact start date, whether Fertitta will be assigned a specific position group or recruiting portfolio, or whether he will have any formal role in weekly play-calling beyond the support duties described; those items remain to be confirmed by Florida State and by Nicholls State.