Florida State running backs coach / recruiting coordinator David Johnson will be back in his hometown, New Orleans, this weekend as the Seminoles face LSU (Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ABC). Johnson sat down with the Osceola this week to discuss his memories of coaching high school football in the city, some of FSU’s connections to Louisiana and the Seminoles’ impressive rushing debut.

You coached high school football for 12 years in New Orleans, including some great teams with Leonard Fournette. What are some of your favorite memories about coaching on the sidelines?

Johnson: Just being in that atmosphere. Watching those kids grow. Watching kids that nobody knew about, and to see how big they are at this point. Obviously, Leonard Fournette was a phenom since he was probably 6 years old. You just knew he was going to be a superstar early on. But watching a kid like Tyrann Mathieu, who nobody really knew about. … Watched guys like Michael Wallace, who didn't catch not one touchdown for me his junior year. His senior year he catches 30 touchdowns, and to go on to an NFL career (2009-18) like he had. Just regular kids who just kept working and to see what they did with their lives and the opportunity. And I think that's one of the biggest things that we all got into it for. The running back coach now at LSU was one of my really good friends, Frank Wilson. He is like a little brother to me. The running backs coach who is at Florida, Jabbar Juluke, that's who actually asked me to get into coaching. We were teaching middle school together. So all three of us were on the same coaching staff in 2002 in high school. So to see us to be at this level and all of us are from New Orleans, we're just trying to help those other kids and other young coaches understand that they can dream, too.

You may have watched the likes of Warrick Dunn, Travis Minor and Talman Gardner when they were playing high school football in Louisiana. What are your memories of some of them and have you kept up with any of them?

I think the biggest thing is just watching Warrick Dunn, just how explosive he was. And to see somebody that small to have such a big role in a place like Florida State, it was just amazing to watch. And even when he came back to talk to the team about his time in the NFL, and even told the guys (on a recent visit), the biggest he probably ever got in the NFL was 185 pounds. But to have the role that he did, and even looking at people following him, Travis Minor and Talman Gardner. (New Orleans native and St. Augustine High grad) Sean Jackson is a really good friend of mine, he just came to one of our practices to watch us. I know Paul Irons, I know Roland Seymour (also St. Augustine High grads). Guys from Louisiana to make an impact here at Florida State, it’s a testament to the people who made that evaluation to come to Louisiana and get not just anybody but quality kids who nobody else was kind of looking at and to go on to have really good careers in the NFL. It just says a lot about the evaluation of people from Florida State.

Ever have three 100-yard rushers in a high school game?

Not in rushing. In receiving, not in rushing. I think at the time Leonard Fournette was the only one I needed (laughs).

You said in the preseason that FSU would use three running backs and give guys opportunities. How much fun was it to watch Trey Benson, Treshaun Ward and Lawrance Toafili go for 100 yards each, and Rodney Hill jumped in and had a touchdown late, too?

It was really fun for me to watch it. They’ve worked so hard. We really work them hard. We send them through a lot. We put a lot of pressure on them and we demand a lot out of them. We know that's what it's going to take. And to see those kids respond. I thought they did a good job of that. And they know it wasn't a perfect game, they know it’s a lot that we have to work on. But just to see them respond and have fun at the same time. I said, ‘I want you to have fun, I want you to enjoy this, this won't last forever.’ So you have to enjoy this moment, you have to take advantage of this opportunity. But especially those three kids, to do what they did, and not to be selfish and to be happy for one another, I think it's big.

How beneficial to have three running backs to hammer away at defenses, especially late when the score potentially is close?

I think it’s going to be big for us. I think this is a need for us right now, still being a relatively young team. We're going through some growing pains. But when you have three guys who can just tote the ball and carry the ball and keep everything good and to be able to run and run in between the tackles, I just think it's a need for us. And Coach (Mike) Norvell likes to run the ball. He likes to use running backs. And you can see from the past, different places that he's been, he's always used running backs. I think those guys are doing a good job and we just have to continue to work.

You will probably say hard work. But how about one on-the-field trait that you like about Benson, Ward, Toafili and Hill?

I think with Ward it’s patience. He's really patient and he can see it before it happens. Toafili, he's extremely explosive. And you talk about Benson, which I call him ‘Brick.’ Brick is really hard to tackle. And that was obvious. And I gave him that nickname even before this game. We call Ward 8-Ball, and I call LT a nickname from New Orleans. I call him 9 Ward. We call Rodney a good dude because he's always coming in with a great attitude. He's going to have maybe everything every other guy has in one package. And he's putting it all together right now. And he just hangs on to everything that those other guys say. But he's extremely explosive. And he's a lot stronger than you realize.

Pro Football Focus had Benson with 18 broken tackles. What did the coaching staff track as far as broken tackles for him and the other backs?

I did see that on Trey. And I think that was big. It is something that just naturally happens for him, it's hard to wrap him up. He continues to move forward. And that's what we want our guys to do — to move forward. I think with Ward it’s probably like six or seven (broken tackles). And I think LT probably have four to five. That's one thing we kind of preach. Everybody used to call me Coach YAC, when I used to coach receivers, it used to be yards after catch. Now I coach running backs it is yards after contact. So we always try to tell those guys, that's the biggest thing we need, we need to move forward and lean forward, we have to get yards after the contact. I just think that's going to be the difference between getting 600 yards to getting 1,000 yards at the end of the year, those two and three yards after contact.

We can say it was just Duquesne but there was not a negative rushing play on Saturday. How good is that to see, the line is getting the push and the running backs are pushing forward, too?

I just think the offensive line and what coach (Alex) Atkins is doing, we're headed in the right direction. And at the end of the day, I understand who we play but we want to head in the right direction. And it's never about the opponent — it’s always about us. We have to continue to get better as a unit. And that's what we're trying to do. We never really concentrate on our opponent. We're just trying to get better as a team.

What are your impressions of Caziah Holmes, who transferred in from Penn State?

He’s just started practice. We had a really good conversation (Tuesday). And that was one of the first things he said. He said, “Coach, I've been here for two or three days and the running backs in the room, all on them are like, ‘I want to help you with this. I'm going to help you with your footwork.’ He said, ‘Coach, I have never been to a place where so many people are trying to help me.’ I said, ‘That's what we have to do.’ We all have to get better. In my room, I'm going to make sure everybody's striving to get better. Because you come in my room, there's no such thing as a walk-on, a five-star. It can't be that way. Because I never know who's going to play. So I have to coach everybody, and if I can do that and make everybody better. We all want to get better. I just think that's important. So we're trying to get him rolling. He's fitting in a room and he's trying to do a good job. And he is just trying to see where he fits right now. Obviously, he's just getting there. But one thing I did promise him is that you have to work. That's what it's about.

We know about Café du Monde. Where else should fans go in New Orleans?

Katie’s is going to have everything. But they are going to have the charbroiled oysters. Little Dizzy’s is going to have everything. Willie Mae’s is famous for their fried chicken.

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