All About SEC Star Garrett Nussmeier's Parents, Doug Nussmeier and Christi Hebert

NEED TO KNOW

• Doug Nussmeier and Christi Hebert welcomed Garrett Nussmeier in 2002
• Garrett is the quarterback for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers
• Doug played football himself before turning to coaching

Louisiana State University (LSU) quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has always been supported by his parents, Doug Nussmeier and Christi Hebert.

Doug played football himself for the NFL and the CFL before turning to coaching. It was while playing for the New Orleans Saints that he met Christi, who was a member of the Saintsations, the team’s cheerleading and dance squad, at the time, per the American Press.

However, the couple didn’t push their children — Garrett, daughter Ashlynn and younger son Colton — into sports.

“He helped me develop this love for the game internally,” Garrett told Crescent City Sports in March 2025. “It speaks to his character.”

From their early lives to raising their children, here’s everything to know about Garrett Nussmeier’s parents, Doug Nussmeier and Christi Hebert.

Doug and Christi are from Oregon and Louisiana, respectively

Doug was born on Dec. 11, 1970, in Portland, Ore. He graduated from Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, a city just south of Portland, in 1989. He later attended and played football for the University of Idaho.

Christi, meanwhile, is from Lake Charles, La. — the same place Garrett was born. She was the one who instilled in him a love of the Bayou State and her familial home.

“[Garrett] wants this house to be here forever,” Christi's mom Melanie Hebert told The Times-Picayune in August 2024. “He doesn't want us to ever sell it. This is his roots. This is what he thinks when he thinks of Lake Charles.”

Doug and Christi have three children

Doug and Christi share three children: sons Garrett and Colton and daughter Ashlynn.

While Garrett is currently the quarterback for LSU, Colton has followed his dad and brother into football, too. He’s set to graduate from Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, in 2027, per On3.

Ashlynn began studying mass communication and media studies at LSU in 2023, where she's set to graduate in 2027, according to her LinkedIn.

Doug and Christi want their children to pursue their passions.

“I never really cared that [Garrett] played football, that's not important to me," he told the Los Angeles Chargers in July 2023. "It's that all the kids find their passion and what they enjoy and then dive into it and go achieve as much as you can, put yourself out there a little bit. His happened to be football and I think with every kid, they kind of find what their passions are."

Doug was a quarterback himself

Doug studied business at the University of Idaho and played football for the Idaho Vandals during his time there, winning the 1993 Walter Payton Award for the Division I-AA player of the year and setting a school record with 33 touchdown passes that same year, per his school bio.

He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1994 and was a reserve quarterback in the NFL for five seasons, both with the Saints and then with the Indianapolis Colts. He then moved to the BC Lions in the CFL before pivoting to coaching with the team.

Since then, he has coached back in the U.S. for a number of teams, including the St. Louis Rams, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2025, he returned to the Saints as their offensive coordinator.

Christi and Doug met in New Orleans

After Christi grew up in Lake Charles, she stayed in Louisiana and was part of the Saintsations, the cheerleading and dance squad for the New Orleans Saints, in the mid-1990s, at the same time as Doug was backup quarterback there.

Growing up, Garrett and his siblings moved 12 times for their father's coaching career, he told the American Press. However, they frequently returned to Louisiana.

“We were always coming back to Lake Charles,” Garrett told the outlet. “Every Christmas, Easter, other holidays, sometimes in the summer, with my grandparents.”

Christi told The Times-Picayune that she and Doug tried for "years" to "instill in [Garrett] the culture of Louisiana," which made it all the more sweet when he chose to attend LSU.

Doug encouraged their children’s interest in football

When Garrett was a child, he would watch game tape and attend practices with his father.

“He never forced me to play or love football,” Garrett told Crescent City Sports. “What he did do was give me an opportunity to create my own connection and love for the game."

Doug told The Times-Picayune that Garrett developed his love of the game all on his own. "I wasn't gonna go to him and say, 'We're gonna go work out,’ ” he said. “And I didn't have to. He would always come to me like, 'Dad, can we throw today?' I always wanted to be available when he wanted to do things and work on certain things.”

Garrett has called Doug his “idol”

All that time together has created a tight bond between father and son. In August 2025, Garrett told ESPN that his father was his “idol," adding, “he's the most influential person in my career."

When Doug was part of the Philadelphia Eagles staff that won the Super Bowl in February 2025, Garrett was there to cheer him on.

“I couldn't ask for a greater role model, friend, and father," Garrett wrote on Instagram after the victory. "We are so proud of you and are so grateful that you are receiving the recognition that you deserve! I love you and I could not be more grateful for everything you do! Congratulations, this is only the beginning.”

While Garrett and Doug will be physically closer now that Doug works for the Saints, the father and son are still concentrated on winning.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. We both have to focus on what we’ve got going on," Garrett told Crescent City Sports. "We’re both locked into what we’re supposed to do. I’m that way because of him. It will be awesome whenever we have some free time."

Doug says Christi is a “rock star”

Over the years, Doug has given credit to his wife, Christi. In July 2023, he told the Los Angeles Chargers that Christi did a “phenomenal job” of raising their children while he was on the road.

"You can’t work in this profession if you don’t have a rock star of a wife," he told The Spokesman-Review in July 2025. "I can’t say enough about how great she is and the job she did with me being gone so much."

For Garrett, Christi was the one who helped keep Louisiana culture around. “My mom was definitely the glue that made sure it stayed in our minds,” he told The Times-Picayune. “She made sure we never forgot where her roots were and what Louisiana meant to her and what it meant to us.”

Read the original article on People