Gerad Parker 2023-24 Football Staff

THE PARKER FILE

Hometown: Louisa, KY
High School: Lawrence County High School
College: Kentucky (2003, B.S.; 2005, M.S.)
Wife: Kandi
Children: Daughters – Kolbi, Gwyneth and Rosalyn;  Son – Oliver

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

2000-04 University of Kentucky Wide Receiver

COACHING CAREER

2005-06 Raceland HS Wide Receivers/Defensive Backs
2007 Kentucky Graduate Assistant
2008-09 UT Martin Running Backs
2010 UT Martin Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator
2011-12 Marshall Wide Receivers
2013-14 Purdue Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator
2015-16 Purdue Wide Receivers/Recruiting Coordinator
2016 Purdue Interim Head Coach
2017 Cincinnati Running Backs
2017 Duke Offense Operations Assistant
2018 Duke Wide Receivers
2019 Penn State Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator
2020-21 West Virginia Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2022 Notre Dame Tight Ends
2023 John and Bobbie Arlotta Family Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends

BOWLS COACHED

2007 Kentucky (Music City Bowl)
2011 Marshall (Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl)
2017 Duke (Quick Lane Bowl)
2018 Duke (Independence Bowl)
2019 Penn State (Cotton Bowl)
2020 West Virginia (Liberty Bowl)
2021 West Virginia (Guaranteed Rate Bowl)
2022 Notre Dame (Gator Bowl)
2023 Notre Dame (Sun Bowl)

PERSONAL INFORMATION

• He was a four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats where he was a Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete Honor Roll selection (2002-03) and CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Second Team honoree (2004).
• Parker played at Lawrence County High School and set state receiving records with 238 catches, 4,814 yards and 52 touchdowns.

COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Assumed the position as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in February of 2023 after serving as the team’s tight ends coach in 2022.
• Entering the 2023 postseason, helped coordinate an Irish offense that averaged 39.1 points-per-game, which is the second-best in the history of the program behind the 1912 team that averaged 48.6 points-per-game over eight games.
• Notre Dame’s 8.95 yards per passing attempt in 2023 ranked as the third-best in program history and the 28 passing touchdowns are tied for the seventh-best.
• Historically, ranking Notre Dame’s yards-per-play is reliable back to the 1967 season. The 2023 team, under the leadership of Parker, averaged 7.0 yards-per-play which ranks second-best in program history.
• Parker saw junior running back Audric Estimé post one of the best rushing seasons in program history in 2023. Estimé rushed for 1,341 yards in ’23 – which ranks fifth on the single-season list at Notre Dame – and finished the regular season as eighth-most of any back in the country. Estimé also rushed for a team-record 18 touchdowns in 2023 and finished his career ranked 11th on the career rushing yards list with 2,321.
• Helped guide Michael Mayer to a consensus All-America season in 2022, as Mayer finished off his career as the most prolific pass catching end in school history. Mayer led the Irish with 67 catches for 809 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022, finishing his time at Notre Dame first on the program charts for tight end catches (180), receiving yards (2,099) and touchdowns (18).
• Parker arrived in South Bend after spending the 2020 and 2021 seasons at West Virginia as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.
• During the 2021 season, Parker guided WVU wide receivers Winston Wright Jr., and Bryce Ford-Weaton to career-best seasons.
• Wright led the Mountaineers with 62 receptions, 688 receiving yards and five touchdowns, all career-best numbers.
• Ford-Weaton set career highs with 42 receptions, 575 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
• The pair earned All Big-12 honorable mention from the league’s coaches.
• The Mountaineer rushing attack had a strong season with Leddie Brown rushing for over 1,000 yards for the second-straight season.
• He set a career high with 1,065 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, which ranked 24th nationally and third in the Big-12.
• One of Brown’s lead blocker was center Zach Frazier, who garnered two second team All-American honors from Walter Camp and the AFCA.
• In 2020, West Virginia had one of the most improved offenses in the nation in terms of total yards, showing gains of more than 60 yards rushing per game, almost 30 yards passing a game, more than 90 yards of total offense and almost seven more points a game.
• The offensive line had another productive year in 2020 with Leddie Brown rushing for 1,010 yards and nine touchdowns, Jarret Doege throwing for more than 2,500 yards and 14 touchdowns.
• Wide receiver Winston Wright Jr. was an All-Big 12 Conference Second Team performer after leading the Mountaineers with 47 catches for 553 yards and two touchdowns and T.J. Simmons finished with 23 catches for 401 yards and a team-high four receiving touchdowns.
• Simmons was named the WVU Offensive MVP as well as the Bowl MVP for finishing with two touchdowns, including the game-winning score.
• Before his time at West Virginia, Parker spent the 2019 season as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Penn State.
• The Nittany Lions offense averaged 35.8 points per game, ranking No. 15 nationally, was No. 21 in red zone offense (.904) and averaged 13.3 yards per completion, ranking No. 33 nationally.
• One of his receivers, KJ Hamler, led the team with 56 catches for 904 yards and eight touchdowns.
• He was named All-Big Ten First Team as an all-purpose player by Sports Illustrated and was a second-team honoree on several lists.
• Before Penn State, Parker spent two years on the football staff at Duke (2017-18).
• During the 2018 season, he coached T.J. Rahming, who was named an All-ACC Second Team selection.
• His wide receivers accounted for 2,252 passing yards of the Blue Devils’ 3,199 total offensive yards (70.4%).
• He served his first year as the football operations assistant working with the offense in 2017.
• The Blue Devils offense had three All-ACC selections and for the first time in program history had three players with 500 or more rushing yards, while also having a quarterback throw for more than 2,500 yards.
• Parker spent the spring as the running backs coach at Cincinnati before joining the Duke football staff.
• Before his stint with the Blue Devils, Parker spent four seasons at Purdue, where he coached the tight ends (2013-14) and wide receivers (2015-16).
• He was the recruiting coordinator and also spent the final six weeks of the 2016 season as the Boilermakers interim head coach. He was on the Boilermaker staff with Freeman.
• One of Parker’s receivers, DeAngelo Yancey, finished with 49 receptions for 951 yards and 10 touchdowns, earning All-Big Ten Second Team accolades in 2016.
• He ended his career ranked No. 7 in receiving yards (2,344) and receiving touchdowns (20) and No. 16 in receptions (141). In 2015, Yancey grabbed 48 receptions and led the team with 700 yards, while Danny Anthrop led the Boilermakers with 57 catches.
• Prior to his time at Purdue, Parker spent two years as the wide receivers coach at Marshall (2011-12).
• The Thundering Herd led the nation in passing offense, averaging 365.1 yards per game.
• Wide receiver Tommy Shuler led the country and set the school record for receptions (110) and was No. 18 nationally in yards per game (94.8) and earned All-Mid-American Conference First Team honors.
• In 2011, Aaron Dobson had 49 catches for 668 yards and a team-best 12 touchdowns.
• Parker spent three seasons at UT-Martin as the running backs coach (2008), wide receivers coach (2009-10) and was the passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator (2010).
• He started his coaching career at Raceland High School in Raceland, Kentucky, and spent the 2007 season as a graduate assistant coach at Kentucky.