Former star recruits, college athletes leading Louisiana high school programs into state playoffs

If you’re from Louisiana, you know Lowell Narcisse.

The former blue-chip recruit from St. James was one of the most coveted recruits in the Class of 2017. He made a splash committing to Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers over those in Baton Rouge — at first.

Ultimately, Narcisse inked with LSU before seeing snaps at UTSA and eventually, Nicholls State.

The football players at Thibodaux (La.) High are familiar with Narcisse– or “Coach” — and by now, they’ve Googled him and are well-versed in his background.

“They go digging and find some of the things you forget about,” laughed Narcisse, the first-year head coach of the Tigers. “They find everything on the Internet.”

John Diarse‘s players heard some stories of his state champion runs at Neville from parents who watched him in high school.

“It’s given me credibility,” the former LSU and TCU standout said.

The athletes at Bonnabel were advocating for Andre Anthony to be the Bruins’ head coach not too long ago.

His background coming from a small school like Miller-McCoy in New Orleans East and eventually winning a national championship at LSU and getting run in the NFL has been a source of motivation for his players making history each week as they continue extending their season.

Narcisse, Diarse and Anthony are all former standout high school recruits who played meaningful snaps and in pivotal games on Saturdays.

Narcisse is in his second season as a high school football head coach in Louisiana. Diarse and Anthony are in their first, and represent a new era of leaders for this generation of coaches leading the next wave of players.

“It’s been a long journey full of ups and downs,” Anthony told Rivals. “Once I got here, I fell in love with the guys and the players here. I forgot about the league. This is what I wanna do. It made sense getting here. I fell in love with coaching the kids.”

National champ laying foundation at Bonnabel

Anthony flashed in spurts early during his time in Baton Rouge. He was prolific at times as a freshman, then had several terrific stretches on the defensive line for the Tigers in 2019 and 2020.

Despite a series of injury setbacks and rehab stents, he was a key cog up front for LSU’s national championship run and was eventually drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Another ACL tear sidelined Anthony after a run in Chicago with the Bears. Back home in New Orleans, he was presented with several opportunities, including a chance to coach at Bonnabel.

After one season as the DL coach, Anthony interviewed and accepted the head coaching job. His players compelled him to. So did mentors like Edna Karr‘s Brice Brown, Tulane’s Brock Hays and former LSU coach Ed Orgeron, who once told Anthony he’d be “a helluva coach” during a summer prospect camp.

“They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. They saw something in me. Seeing what they’ve been through with coaching changes and at home, I wanted to give them the stability they haven’t had,” said Anthony. “To be the head coach and know they believed in me, from that moment on, it wasn’t about wins or losses; it was about the structure and foundation we were trying to build. We pride ourselves on pride and integrity, discipline, and we’re focused on developing young men and football players.”

“Everyone knows me from Karr and LSU, but I’m a kid from Miller-McCoy and I made it out. They can make it out. Our motto is ‘Close the Gap’ — on whatever everyone else thinks of a Bonnabel. We’re changing the narrative.”

They certainly are — securing their first district championship since 1998 and knocking off rival John Ehret for the first time in that span. Local high school football historians believe a Bonnabel victory Thursday vs. parish rival Riverdale would be the program’s first playoff win since that 1998 season as well.

Anthony huddles with his team in the end zone after each game and begins the post-game speech by asking, “Does it make sense now?”

For him, it absolutely does.

“It’s been mind-blowing to hear their stories during the pick-ups and drop-offs … Everyone comes from different backgrounds, but that made me fight for them 10 times more — to be a better coach and be a better man and give them everything I’ve got. Hearing that upped my game even more. It was a turning point for me knowing what kind of team I had,” Anthony explained.

“We’re a different team, a different staff, different players. We put Bonnabel on the map. It’s starting to make sense to these kids and we’re only getting better as we continue the season. It’s making more sense that we can win and be champions. I’ve been there and done that, and that’s what they want now … It’s obtainable. We have the team to do that.”

No one embodies it more than the Bruins’ head coach.

Blue-chip QB ascending at Thibodaux

Narcisse spent a few seasons helping groom Adam Schobel (TCU) at Columbus (Texas) High before taking over at Donaldsonville (La.) Ascension Catholic last year, where he had them in the state semifinals, knocking on the door of the Caesars Superdome in his first run as a head coach.

Thibodaux quickly tabbed the former QB to oversee the program and rebuild one of the sleeping 5A giants in the River Parishes.

Narcisse brings experience starting in the Superdome to the position. He’s also played for LSU, UTSA and Nicholls State, overcoming setbacks on and away from the field each step along the way.

“It’s been a lot of learning. The more experience you get and roles you’ve been in — from playing experience, going through ball, going through the recruiting process, to where I’m at now, it prepares you and helps you to understand the goal at hand,” explained Narcisse, who will lead Thibodaux against Mandeville (La.) on Friday night.

“You have to build relationships with these kids to get what you want out of them. You have to get them to buy in and trust you,” he continued. “The best teacher is experience. I’ve seen it and I’ve experienced a bunch of success, failure and adversity in my playing career. They respect that more because it allows you to give them your authentic self. Then they buy in.”

Part of Narcisse’s job at each stint has been setting a new standard at each program and “beating a bunch of bad habits” previously established.

Consistency has been a theme of Narcisse’s success at both schools. Progress has been driving him.

“Friday is the only part of my job I get to enjoy,” he said. “I call plays and see these kids have success on Fridays. I hate dealing with conferences and disciplinary issues. That comes with the job and everyone deals with it. But on Friday, you take notice of the preparation and what you’ve taught them. They utilize it and have success with it … that’s the most rewarding part. They want to have success and win, and every time they do, they buy in and pay more attention each week.”

Decorated recruit putting pieces together at Wossman

Diarse is as decorated a high school recruit as there was coming out of powerhouse Neville in 2013.

A Mr. Football recipient in the state, Diarse led his Tigers to the Dome three times and was crowned a state champion twice. He competed in the Army All-American Game. He was prolific at multiple positions for Neville, especially quarterback.

Diarse made big catches for LSU and then TCU. Now he’s leading Wossman to meaningful games in the playoffs.

“It’s a full-circle moment, honestly,” Diarse told Rivals. “You get to relive these moments and teach from the past, and for me, it’s super exciting to work my way up to this position, being the head coach and getting to impact players and teach them the importance of doing things the right way — all the time, not just when it’s convenient. If you do that, you give yourself a fighting chance.”

“You get to the point where they understand you care about them and truly love the game and them as young men,” he continued. “You start teaching lessons. It’s not overnight. It took a little bit of time. Some catch it on the first time and some on the fifth time. You keep teaching them and keep growing them up.”

His Wildcats are 4-6, but advanced into the postseason and are “locked in” for their showdown vs. Minden on Friday night.

The first-year head coach is paying closer attention to the trajectory of this program, which is certainly trending up under Diarse’s watch.

“The record doesn’t reflect the transformation and evolution of the program,” Diarse said. “It’s not a broken program; it was a program that was missing pieces. We’ve been finding those missing pieces and we’ve got the puzzle board back together. They’re buying in. It doesn’t matter how we started the season off because we’re playing our best in November.”