Troy Football Post-Spring Stock Report

TROY, Ala. – Spring practice is in the rearview. The NCAA Transfer Portal is closed. The 2025 Troy Football roster, minus a handful of last-minute additions, is complete. Troy retained 93 percent of its roster during the portal period, a number that is almost unheard of during this day and age of collegiate football.

"That's pretty good; that's what Kandi's free throw percentage was for her career," Parker laughed in reference to his wife's Hall of Fame basketball career at Morehead State. "In the new wave and new era of college football, you're literally in a fight for everybody's staffs, everybody's families, our players and their ability to feel happy, to feel pleased, to feel that they've been held accountable, and that's all you can stand on.

"We realized the first way we retain our roster at Troy, in my mind, is how well do you serve your players," Parker said. "How hard do we coach them? How truthful are we? Is Troy a place that develops me? Do they love me? Do they care for me? Do they hold me accountable? If we can answer yes to those questions, we have a lot better chance of holding them on our roster. So, this spring, we did that."

In addition to the staff working on player retention, the second-year head coach took the issue straight to the source to help keep as many players in the program as possible.

"The peer piece of this and the locker room pushing leadership as much, or more, than me as the head coach or our staff, that is the difference," Parker said. "We've all seen what it looks like when you have player-led teams, and I think the other guys pay attention to a guy like Luis Medina and the others who have stayed to come and speak out for our team.

"So, for guys on this roster to fight for our current roster guys or maybe speak some sense into decisions they are making or will have to make, they can get it done easier than us as coaches," Parker said. "We only get the morning or a moment in a meeting; they get all day."

Every program loses players; it's the reality of the game, but for Parker and staff, the focus is always forward.

The Trojans had one of the best final months in the country, winning 3-of-4 games in November behind an offense that averaged 35.8 points in its final five games and averaged the 19^th most yards and 14^th most points in November. Defensively, Troy ranked in the top 25 nationally in yards allowed in November and led the Sun Belt, allowing just 122.5 rushing yards in league games.

The key – building on that momentum at the end of the season and carry it forward to 2025. There are a lot of parallels to Neal Brown's first season as head coach in 2015, when Troy opened the season 2-6, finished strong and parleyed that into a 10-win campaign in 2016.

Parker and his staff spent the winter on the road, working connections to build on their end-of-the-year success.

"Defensively, we went to a couple places in the offseason," Parker said. "We visited Iowa State and Jon Heacock, one of the most revered defensive coordinators in the country, a guy who has done as good a job as anybody in the country the last 15 years. He and (Troy defensive coordinator) Donate (Wright) developed a good relationship, so we flew up there in the cold and got with their staff for professional development. We also went to Notre Dame and sat down with Coach (Marcus) Freeman and his staff, where we gained some stuff on ball disruption because they are elite in that area."

Offensively, it's about the guys who are back and filling in holes with key offseason additions.

"In the spring, we had some guys who were getting back from some postseason surgeries at tight end, so it forced us to really push and develop and grow at wideout," Parker said. "It's going to be fun watching that unfold because top to bottom, you have to really like that wide receiver room as it grew.

"Quarterback leadership is critical for our team because it's not just leading during practices and games; it's leading during the summer when all those throw sessions happen when nobody is around, and we have that in Goose. And then, you feel really good about having a returning Eli Russ, Elijah Prather and Matt Henry up front and bringing in Garner Langlo over the winter to protect."

Parker offered a final parting message for his team as they head home for a final break before returning at the end of May to begin summer workouts.

"Don't look left. Don't look right. Don't look behind you," Parker said. "I would tip my hat to them and say, 'Job well done to this point, now we've got to finish the job.' The summer season is our third quarter before we face our ultimate test, the fourth quarter of the year, our games. So, my challenge is to finish the job, keep chasing better this summer, and let's see where we're at."

And for the fans.

"Be as excited as you would have been if everything in the world happened in the right way last season," Parker said. "Expect great things to happen. Expect Troy to give you a product on the field that you'll be proud of when you come watch us this fall. Be ready to come out and support these guys who are working their tails off. The whole plan is to make sure we put a product on the field that they are proud of in year two."

Troy University Athletics

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Matt Henry

Garner Langlo

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Elijah Prather

Eli Russ

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