Troy names a new Head Football Coach
Troy Football
After the departure of Jon Sumrall for Tulane, Troy named Gerad Parker their new Head Football Coach. Most recently before accepting the Head Coaching job at Troy, Parker spent the last two seasons at Notre Dame. Parker coached the tight ends during his first season with the Irish before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator and Tight Ends Coach during his second season in South Bend.
“I thank Athletics Director Brent Jones and the screening committee for their dedication to recommending our next head coach from a pool of outstanding candidates,” Chancellor Hawkins said. “We are excited to appoint Gerad Parker to lead our proud and storied football program. His experience at Notre Dame and several other premier programs in America and his proven plan of success will provide a clear path to continue our championship winning status. He comes to Troy with outstanding credentials and with the highest recommendations. We are proud to welcome Gerad and his family into the Trojan Family.”
“Gerad Parker is a proven winner with an infectious personality and passion for success who has significant experience at some of the best programs in America,” Jones said. “He competed in the SEC as a player, has been a recruiting coordinator in the Big Ten and has coordinated highly productive offenses in the Big 12 and now at Notre Dame. He has an extremely diverse background that spans from coaching in high school, the FCS and throughout FBS in the SEC, American, Big Ten, Sun Belt, ACC and Big 12.
“He understands the commitment to excellence that we have at Troy University and embraces the total student-athlete experience. His proven pedigree will maintain our status as the leader in the Sun Belt Conference and the Group of Five. Gerad’s energy and dedication to building relationships with the community, fans and student-athletes will resonate with all of Trojan Nation.”
During the 2023 season, Parker helped the Irish to a 9-3 record and led the offense specifically to a eighth place ranking nationally averaging 39.1 points a game. In addition to the offense ranking eighth in the nation overall, they also stacked up twelfth in passing efficiency and 29th total offense. In just one season as the Offensive Coordinator at Notre Dame, Parker helped increase scoring by more than a touchdown per game, yardage per game, passing yards per game, yards per play, and red zone scoring.
Parker made the transition to Notre Dame after spending two seasons at West Virginia with former Troy Head Coach Neal Brown. During Parker’s time at West Virginia he served as the Offensive Coordinator and the Receivers Coach. During his second season at West Virginia, Parker helped the Mountaineers take down Texas and Number 15 Virginia Tech. And despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountaineers still managed to have an extremely successful season being one of the most improved offenses in the nation in terms of total yards, showing gains of more than sixty yards rushing per game, and more than 90 yards of total offense and nearly seven more points a game.
Parker has also spent time coaching at Penn State, Duke, Purdue, Marshall, UT-Martin, Kentucky, and Raceland High School.
Before beginning his career in coaching, Parker played college football at Kentucky alongside former Troy Head Coach Jon Sumrall.
-Information from Troy Athletics
