Troy hires former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker as head coach

Troy has hired former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker as its head coach, the school announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:

Parker, who has also worked at Purdue, Cincinnati, Duke, Penn State and West Virginia, spent the last two years at Notre Dame. He arrived as tight ends coach in 2022 and was elevated to offensive coordinator prior to the 2023 season.
Under the direction of Parker and with veteran transfer Sam Hartman at quarterback, the Irish finished ninth in the FBS in yards per play (6.95) during a 9-3 season that earned them a Sun Bowl trip.
Although Parker doesn’t have previous Troy coaching experience, unlike the program’s most recent three head coaches, he did overlap as a player at Kentucky with Neal Brown and Jon Sumrall. Sumrall took the Tulane job this month after posting a 23-4 record at Troy.
Parker also worked as Neal Brown’s offensive coordinator at West Virginia from 2020 to ’21.

Welcome to the Troy Family, @GeradParker1!
📰 – #OneTROY ⚔️🏈
— Troy Trojans Football 8x⚔️ (@TroyTrojansFB) December 18, 2023

What does Parker bring to Troy?

Parker’s coaching background has a little bit of everything, spending time in pro-style schemes as well as tempo- and RPO-heavy attacks. He hasn’t stayed in any one place long, and he’s also limited in offensive coordinator experience, with one season in the role at Notre Dame and two at West Virginia.

As a recruiter, Parker was adequate at Notre Dame, inheriting a position already loaded with All-American tight end Michael Mayer and Mitchell Evans. Parker was popular with his room and developed Evans this season into Mayer’s heir apparent. He also helped land freshman tight end Cooper Flanagan, who contributed early.

Parker, a Kentucky native who began his coaching career at UT Martin in Tennessee, should be familiar with Troy’s footprint in a way he wasn’t at Notre Dame. That could also help the first-time head coach get comfortable. — Pete Sampson, Notre Dame staff writer

How much of a shock is Parker’s departure?

The numbers behind Parker’s offense were solid. The Irish finished in the top 10 in scoring offense in addition to yards per play last season. But Notre Dame’s offense bogged down in its biggest games, to the extent that Freeman had to defend retaining Parker in the aftermath of the season finale against Stanford, stumping for staff consistency over upheaval. The Irish offense struggled against Duke, Louisville and Clemson (they went 1-2 against those top ACC challenges) and labored in a close loss to Ohio State.

Turns out, Freeman will have to reinvent his offense after all, with a third different offensive coordinator in his three seasons in charge, from Tommy Rees to Parker to whoever comes next.

Notre Dame already has some offensive coordinator experience on the staff in quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph. The Irish have already made their first staff change of the offseason, hiring wide receivers coach Mike Brown to replace Chansi Stuckey.

What Freeman wants in an offense seems to be well-established: a run-first approach that plays more ball control than one that operates at tempo, though the head coach does want the latter to be part of his playbook. — Sampson

Who’s next at Notre Dame?

The job should remain attractive considering the career paths of former Notre Dame coordinators.

Since the start of Brian Kelly’s tenure at Notre Dame, coordinators who directly moved to head coaching positions included Clark Lea (Vanderbilt), Mike Sanford (Western Kentucky), Charley Molnar (UMass), Chuck Martin (Miami-Ohio), Bob Diaco (Connecticut) and Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame). That doesn’t include Rees moving to Alabama, Mike Elko leaving for Texas A&M, where he’s not the head coach, or Mike Denbrock (now Kelly’s offensive coordinator at LSU).

A program source indicated Freeman already has a top target in mind and it’s an external candidate. A year ago Freeman also targeted external candidates in Collin Klein and Andy Ludwig before ultimately falling back to Parker. It appears Notre Dame does not intend to go that route again. — Sampson

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What will Parker’s priorities be at Troy?

This is far from a rebuilding job. Parker takes over one of the most successful programs in college football over the last two seasons, the two-time defending Sun Belt champions. The facilities are good, and the school recently announced plans for an indoor practice facility. Sumrall was the highest-paid coach in the Sun Belt, and Troy just set an attendance record this season.

Parker’s first priority will be keeping players from entering the transfer portal. Thus far, the only notable Trojan in the portal is linebacker Jayden McDonald, who led the team with 75 tackles, along with 9.5 tackles for loss. Troy plays Duke in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 23.

The second priority will be the recruiting class. The early signing day is Wednesday. On3 lists the Trojans with 15 commits and the No. 4 class in the Sun Belt. Will Parker honor those commitments or wait until the February signing period to focus on the class?

The third priority will be the staff. Sumrall has already taken some coaches to Tulane, but not all. Considering Parker has moved around among various jobs in recent years, it’s hard to predict what he’ll do with his staff. — Chris Vannini, college football staff writer

Who else was in the mix at Troy?

According to industry sources, other coaches who were in the mix for the Troy job included West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley, Troy defensive coordinator/interim head coach Greg Gasparato, Troy offensive coordinator Joe Craddock and SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons. — Vannini