Gerad Parker

Gerad Michael Parker (born January 4, 1981) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Troy University, a position he has held since 2024. He was previously the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at the University of Notre Dame and the offensive coordinator at West Virginia University. Parker played as a wide receiver at the University of Kentucky from 2000 to 2004 for head coaches Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss, and Rich Brooks. He served as the interim head coach at Purdue University for six games in 2016.

Early life Gerad, a native of Louisa, Kentucky, was born the son of Rick and Laura Parker. Parker graduated from Lawrence County High School, where he was a member of the basketball team, track and field team and the football team as a record-setting wide receiver. As a freshman and sophomore, Parker teamed up with Jason Michael to form one of the best passing attacks in the state of Kentucky. His 65 receptions, 1,504 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior made him a finalist for the 1999 Kentucky Mr. Football Award, losing out to eventual teammate Travis Atwell. He chose Kentucky over offers from Marshall and Western Kentucky.

Statistics Source:

YearTeamReceiving Rec Yards Avg Yds/G TD 2000 Kentucky Redshirt 2001 Kentucky 0 0 -- -- 0 2002 Kentucky 0 0 -- -- 0 2003 Kentucky 0 0 -- -- 0 2004 Kentucky 15 168 11.2 18.6 0Totals 15 168 11.2 18.6 0

Coaching career Early coaching career Parker coached wide receivers and defensive backs at Raceland-Worthington High School from 2005 to 2006. where he worked with wide receivers and the offensive scout team. The following year Parker was hired by UT Martin, where he was the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2011, Parker became the wide receivers coach at Marshall.

Purdue On February 11, 2013, Parker was hired by Darrell Hazell as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Purdue University. In 2015, Parker took over as the wide receivers coach and maintained his role as the recruiting coordinator.

Parker mentored standout receiver DeAngelo Yancey during his time at Purdue. Yancey earned second team All-Big Ten honors after recording a career-high 49 receptions for 951 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016, and wrapped up his four-year collegiate career ranking among the top receivers in Purdue history, finishing with 141 career receptions for 2,344 yards and 20 TDs.

After a loss to Iowa on October 16, 2016, Purdue fired head coach Darrell Hazell and named Parker the interim head coach for the final six weeks of the season.

Cincinnati and East Carolina On January 17, 2017, Parker was named the running backs coach at the University of Cincinnati. Parker resigned from Cincinnati the week of February 13, 2017, to become the wide receivers coach at East Carolina University. On February 22, 2017, Parker was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Because of the arrest, the East Carolina rescinded their offer.

Duke On June 1, 2017, Parker was hired by David Cutcliffe and the Duke Blue Devils as a football operations assistant. In 2018, Parker transitioned into an assistant coaching role to mentor Duke's wide receivers. During his one season coaching the Duke wide receivers, the unit combined for 2,252 yards, accounting for 70.4 percent of the Blue Devils’ passing production.

Penn State On January 10, 2019, Parker was named the wide receivers coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions, replacing David Corley.

Notre Dame After being demoted following West Virginia's hiring of Graham Harrell as offensive coordinator, Parker joined the Notre Dame staff as tight ends coach for the 2022 season. He was named offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.

Troy On December 18, 2023, Parker was named the head coach at Troy.

Head coaching record