Florida State announces four new off-field staff hires
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State has hired four off-field staff
members, head coach Mike Norvell announced Monday. Darrick Yray
(pronounced Ray) is the Seminoles' new general manager of personnel,
Gabe Fertitta (pronounced fur-tee-tah) is joining as a senior offensive
analyst, Greg Moss as defensive analyst and Carol Moore as executive
assistant and office manager.
"I'm looking forward to the impact these individuals will have on our
program," Norvell said. "This is a tremendous opportunity to enhance our
support staff and continue elevating our personnel department. Darrick,
Gabe, Greg and Carol have proven themselves to be elite in their
professional roles while also caring deeply about student-athlete
success. They will help us continue to pursue the highest standards in
every area of our program."
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Yray joins Florida State after seven years at Oregon State, most
recently as director of player personnel. He also served as director of
recruiting operations, coordinator of on-campus recruiting and assistant
director of player personnel for the Beavers. Oregon State's 2022
signing class was the highest-rated nationally for OSU since 2011, and
the 2021 team produced 17 All-Pac-12 recognitions, the program's most
since 2008, while advancing to a bowl game for the first time since
2013.
He was responsible for managing all aspects of Oregon State's recruiting
operation, including identifying potential student-athletes and
scheduling official and unofficial visits to campus, while also serving
as the Beavers' pro liaison.
Prior to his time in Corvallis, Yray spent four years as an offensive
assistant and three as assistant director of football operations at
Fresno State. He was the pro liaison with the Bulldogs along with his
recruiting, team travel, player personnel and other operations duties.
As an offensive assistant, he was tasked with preparing scouting
reports, charts, film breakdown, academics and special teams. In 2010,
Yray was a guest coach with the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders working
with special teams and the defensive line.
Yray earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Fresno State in
2011 and completed his master's degree in kinesiology at Fresno State in
2013. He is married to Minda McCullough.
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Fertitta spent the 2021 season at Louisville as a quality control
assistant following an incredibly successful run as head coach at
Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Fertitta was 43-8 in four seasons leading Catholic, taking the Bears to
the state championship game all four years and winning state titles in
2017 and 2020. He was twice named District 5-5A Coach of the Year. He
also was head coach at St. Stanislaus on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi
for three seasons, including a 12-1 record with a trip to the third
round of the state playoffs in 2013, and has a 59-25 overall record as a
high school coach.
He gained collegiate coaching experience as offensive coordinator at
Itawamba Community College in 2010, with current FSU offensive
coordinator Alex Atkins coaching offensive line, and as a graduate
assistant at Mississippi College in 2005. Fertitta played at Mississippi
College, where he graduated cum laude with his bachelor's degree in
English in 2005 and completed his master's degree in English education
in 2010.
Fertitta and his wife, Charity, have three daughters, Claire, Olivia and
Madelyn.
Moss brings nine years of collegiate coaching experience and seven
seasons as a high school coach to the FSU staff. He most recently was
defensive backs coach at Charleston Southern for three seasons and added
special teams coordinator duties for the 2021 campaign.
In his first season at Charleston Southern, the Buccaneers grabbed 14
interceptions and had the No. 21 pass defense in FCS. Evan Cruz broke
the single-season program record with 14 pass breakups, and Cody Cline
was named first-team all-conference and the conference's Defensive
Freshman of the Year. Cline continued his development and was named a
Sophomore All-American and first-team all-conference after the spring
2021 season. Prior to CSU, Moss was defensive coordinator at Miami Carol
City High School for two seasons. He also has experience coaching at
Nova High School in Davie and Miramar High School.
Moss spent five seasons on staff at FIU, his alma mater, serving as
secondary coach in 2015 and 2016 after three years as a quality control
coach. He was a defensive team captain and voted FIU's Special Teams
Player of the Year in 2003 after breaking numerous kickoff and punt
return records. Following his collegiate career, Moss played four
seasons in the CFL. He played in the 2007 Grey Cup as a member of the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers and was named the Ottawa Renegades' Rookie of the
Year in 2005.
He was a Dean's List honoree in the classroom and earned his bachelor's
degree in physical education and sports management from FIU in 2005 and
completed his master's degree in sports administration from St. Thomas
University in 2013. Moss and his wife, Shaun, have three daughters, Sai,
Taylor and Kyndall.
Moore is a veteran athletics administrator and returns to the football
staff after four years as the administrative specialist and office
manager for FSU's Student Athlete Academic Services.
She began her tenure with the football program in 1985 when she was the
administrator for defensive coaches and became the primary administrator
in the recruiting office from 1987-92 before working with the offensive
coaches from 1992-96. She was the program assistant for recruiting from
1996-2003 and then became the office administrator for football
operations until her move to academics in 2018.
Moore is a Tallahassee native who graduated from North Florida Christian
School and Tallahassee Community College. She is married to Matt Ayer
and has two children, Ansley and Brandon.
