LIVE OAK HIGH SCHOOL
Home of the Eagles
Est. 1895
HEAD ATHLETIC COACHES
Jesse Cassard
Coach Cassard entered his first season at the helm of the Eagles Baseball coaching staff in 2018. The Assumption Parish native already has skins on the wall after spending the last 10 years in charge of the Zachary Broncos, guiding them to three consecutive Class 4A state championships (2007-09), a 5A state runnerup finish in 2013, two other state tournament trips and seven district championships, the last in 2016. He has coached standout athletes with over 60 college signees, 14 draft picks, and 31 All-State selections.
Besides his 10-year tenure at Zachary, which included 261 victories, Cassard was an assistant at Barbe for 5 seasons. He played college ball at McNeese State fulfilling the outfield role. Cassard will coach PE for the Eagles and is excited about the direction of the Eagles on the field as well as academically in the classroom.
Chris Collier
Coach Collier is currently the head coach of our wrestling team and football team. He graduated from Parkway High School and went on to play football for the Demons at at Northwestern State University as an offensive lineman and defensive lineman, finishing with a bachelors of science degree. After graduation, Coach Collier taught and coached at Woodlawn High School for 7 years before joining Live Oak's coaching staff in 2007. Coach Collier teaches physical science with a wrestling goal for the team to end the year as one of the top teams in the state.
Hutch Gonzales
Coach Hutch Gonzales is the Head Football coach for our 2023 Eagles. Coach moves over from Central High School last season where he was the Offensive Coordinator. Gonzales spent a season as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas then moved to Mandeville for four years as head coach. He also coached at Bowling Green – one of two stops at the school -- and coached receivers at Covington and served as offensive coordinator at Lakeshore and Fontainebleau. His goal for the upcoming season in terms of an offensive scheme is to be multiple and balanced. “I really kind of fell in love with the run game the past few years. We’re still going to throw it all over the yard because we’ve got some talent, but you’ve got to mix it in. When we talk about defense, we're just trying to be very disciplined and very sound..."
Tiras Magee
Tiras Magee is the head coach of our boys basketball team and one of our physical education teachers. He graduated from Denham Springs High School and went on to earn his masters degree in education, and an associates and bachelors degree in criminal justice from Purdue Global University. He was previously the assistant basketball coach at Denham Springs High School for 3 years before taking the reins at Live Oak High. His goal for this season is to lead the boys to the playoffs and be a contender for the State championship.
Zach Miller
Zach Miller, head coach of the Boys Soccer team, attended Centenary College in Shreveport and received a degree in business administration. He attended high school at Booker T. Washington in his hometown Tulsa, Oklahoma, but came to Live Oak in 2015. Coach Miller previously taught at Lutcher High School and has over 15 years of coaching experience. He teaches Spanish and his goal for the boys' soccer team focuses on bringing home a district trophy and succeeding in playoffs.
Katie Prescott
Katie Prescott is a native of Denham Springs and attended McNeese State University where she received her degree. She was previously an associate softball coach at her alma mater where the Cowgirls won back-to-back Southland Conference tournament championships and participated in consecutive NCAA regionals. Prescott completed a four-year softball career at McNeese State University in the spring of 2014. Prescott was an All-Southland Conference and All-Louisiana honorable mention selection in 2011 and was named to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll all four years. She was also named to the SLC all-academic team three years. She currently teaches Strength and Conditioning and Team Sports and coaches softball.
Janie Tidwell
Coach Janie Tidwell took over the reigns of Eagle Volleyball in 2020. Coach Tidwell graduated from LSU with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and teaches Intro to Health Occupations and EMR. As a player, Coach Tidwell was a OH Defensive Specialist for the LSU Tigers and earned 2 SEC Championship titles in ’86 and ’89. She previously was the assistant volleyball coach at Zachary High School for the past 10 seasons. Her goal this year is to build a disciplined, purposeful, responsible group of young adults that love to play volleyball.
Joel Harrison
Joel Harrison was born and raised in Watson, Louisiana. He graduated from Live Oak High School and then went to LSU where he earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. He is the Head Coach of Boys and Girls Tennis. In most recent years, four players on the tennis team have gone on to qualify for the state tournament after placing in the top eight at regionals. As an Eagle alumni himself, Coach Harrison was the team co-captain and was the recipient of the Eagle Award for outstanding senior athletes. He has been teaching Spanish and Social Studies since 2020.
Michele Yawn
Michele Yawn is a graduate of Dowling College in New York and LSU-Eunice Community College and is the girls basketball coach. Coach Yawn came to Live Oak in 2015 and previously coached at Central Private. Coach Yawn was a point guard in college and has coached several All-District , All-State selections as well as college signees. She currently teaches physical education and was Teacher of the Year in 2021.
