Troy University Athletics
JOHNSON'S JOURNAL - More Than a Coach: Gerad Parker's Mission to Build People Before Programs
7/8/2026 2:00:00 PM | Football
Being called "Coach" in the community isn't taken lightly by Gerad Parker, who is in his third year leading the football program at Troy University.
"I think that is an earned title, especially at a place like this that has high expectations," Parker said. "At first, nobody knows who you are because we weren't from here or hadn't been here.
"I love that we had to build it from scratch and earn the respect from everybody, and do it following great success, which is very difficult to do."
Before he was named the new head football coach at Troy in December of 2023 following two years as an assistant at Notre Dame, the final one as offensive coordinator, Parker had visited Troy's campus a few times.
The first time was in 2005 as an assistant coach of wide receivers and defensive backs in his home state of Kentucky at Raceland High School. It was his first full-time coaching job after graduating from the University of Kentucky, where he was a wide receiver from 2000-2004.
"We drove a yellow school bus from Raceland, Kentucky, to come down here and do a camp with the Tony Franklin System," Parker said, referring to the former Troy offensive coordinator who operated what was one of the most innovative offensive attacks at the time.
The next trip came as a college football assistant coach.
"I got my first job in college at UT Martin. I got in the car one morning at 5, and I drove straight on a full tank of gas from Martin, Tennessee, to Troy, Alabama, and came and visited with Chad Scott, who was the running backs coach at the time.
"I had just got hired at UT Martin (2008) to coach running backs and didn't have any idea what I was doing. Chad and I came in together at Kentucky - we were in the signing class together - so I came down here to get taught up on how in the world I was going to do that.
"So, I had been to Troy those two times. Then in the spring of 2017, I drove down here to see Neal Brown (Troy head coach from 2015-2018) and visit with that staff as well. I was familiar, at least enough, to have been here before taking the job."
Coaching at a young age
Parker knew at an early age that coaching was something he would likely want to pursue following his playing days, whether it was on a basketball court or football field.
"I remember vividly Dad pouring a concrete basketball court in our backyard," Parker said. "I thought I was going to be a basketball player.
"You're looking at camps … camps were big … and I'm like, 'Alright, I want to go to these camps.' And he was like, 'You can go to any camp that you want to son. I'll pay for half, and you have to pay for the other half.' So, I mowed yards in our neighborhood (to make money)."
Parker also realized he had a knack for teaching the game of basketball to some of the children in the neighborhood.
"There were six to 10 kids from the age range of anywhere from six to eight years old, so I taught basketball lessons in my backyard when I was 12, 13 and 14 years old," Parker said. "I developed a way to maybe deliver a message and teach at a young age, so I knew I wanted to coach. I just honestly didn't know what I wanted to coach, and how and where, until the end of my senior (college) year."
Up and down playing career
Parker grew up in the small town of Louisa in Eastern Kentucky near the West Virginia border, where he excelled in football. He became the state's all-time leader in career receiving yards with 4,814 while compiling 238 catches and 52 touchdowns at Lawrence County High School from 1996 to 1999. Parker was a finalist for the 1999 Kentucky Mr. Football Award and was also a standout in track and basketball.
Following graduation in 2000, Parker accepted a football scholarship to the University of Kentucky. He was hampered by injuries during his college career and didn't record any statistics until his senior season, in which he caught 15 passes for 168 yards.
However, playing for three head coaches during his time there from 2000-2004 - Hal Mumme (2000), Guy Morriss (2001-2002) and Rich Brooks (2003-2004) - helped mold Parker into the coach he's become.
"Just sharing really one true semester with Hal Mumme was short-lived, but Mumme was such a good people's person, and such a good offensive mind," Parker said. "He started that whole tree that still exists today from the system of Air Raid and things. That left a mark on me.
"Guy Morriss brought such a toughness, and such a different perspective for preparation than what everyone was used to from Mumme, because of his offensive lineman mentality, and he built great relationships.
"And Rich Brooks brought like this whole defense approach - like this NFL model - because he had been in the NFL. He would admit it was really rocky to start, but when we figured it out, and he then built relationships of caring and built this great staff around him, we all understood him better, and it was such a cool thing.
"It was three different views that were really a blessing in the end to get around that many minds."
After two years as an assistant on the high school level, Parker set his sights on coaching in the college ranks.
"I knew after the first year I got done (as a high school coach) that I needed to go learn more and realized I wanted to do this in college," Parker said of coaching football.
Brooks gave him that opportunity, hiring Parker as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 2007 to help with wide receivers and the offensive scout team.
Moving up the ranks
After a year as a graduate assistant at Kentucky, Parker was hired as running backs coach at UT Martin (2008-2009) and was elevated to wide receivers/passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the 2010 season.
Parker then quickly began climbing the ladder, taking a job at Marshall as wide receivers coach (2011-2012), Purdue as tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator (2013-2014) and then wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator (2015-2016).
It was during the 2016 season at Purdue that Parker was elevated to interim head coach for the final six games of the season after head coach Darrell Hazell was fired following a 3-3 start to the season, which included a 1-2 mark in Big Ten play.
While the Boilermakers went 0-6 during that stretch with Parker in charge, the team did play competitively, and Parker learned some valuable lessons along the way.
"Number one, I didn't know that those damn six losses would follow me and count on my head coaching record," Parker said with a chuckle. "We played so much better, but we still didn't win.
"I learned so many things of what not to do and figuring it out, but also some things about motivation and how we change practice and things that I've kept with me.
"More importantly, it offered me this look into the window of being a head coach and realizing everything that happens, and every decision you make in all of it, is all my responsibility. It quickly taught me that you can't say, 'It was our defense, or it was our offense.'
"I remember going to the first postgame press conference and them (media) saying, 'How do you think your defense played?' and I had just gotten done being a wideouts coach the week before being named the interim (head coach).
"I'm like, hold on a second, 'My defense?' I just came out of being a wideouts coach. But that was a valuable lesson in dealing with the media, answering for the football program and having plans.
"I kept a lot of notes on purpose because I hoped this would lead to me becoming a head coach again. What better way than to be in charge of a Big Ten program and get a glimpse of this is what this is. That's what it afforded me.
"Still, until you do it, you don't know all the other things. But it sure gave me maybe some cheat notes on it."
Taking on new challenges
Parker spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Duke, the first year as offensive operations assistant and second year coaching wide receivers.
In 2019, Parker moved on to Penn State as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator and then moved to West Virginia from 2020-2021 to become the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under former Troy head coach Neal Brown.
In 2022, Parker was hired as tight ends coach at Notre Dame and elevated to offensive coordinator in 2023.
All along, Parker was preparing for a chance to one day lead another football program as a head coach.
"After that time (at Purdue), I started to make a bunch of notes in my phone about future programs, our core values - like the things I knew I wanted a program to be if I was the head of it, because I wanted to be ready," Parker said. "Other than that, I tried to be the best football coach at your position that you could be in the country or at least make sure you're in that conversation.
"But in the times I dreamed of the future, I certainly made a ton of notes and stayed ready so when a call comes from a Troy, you didn't have to say, 'OK, what's your program going to stand for? Who are you going to hire?'"
Getting a chance at Troy
When Jon Sumrall left Troy to become the new head coach at Tulane after the Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference championship for a second straight year in 2023, Parker found himself in the mix for the opening.
Among the phone calls he made to get some input were to Brown and Sumrall, who not only coached at Troy, but spent time as teammates of his at the University of Kentucky.
"I had one really good conversation with each of them," Parker said. "One, maybe get an idea from their perspective about the place, and just for some insight. I didn't get carried away, because at that point there are several names involved on the front end of that stuff and they've got other people that they know that were also interested (in the Troy job).
"I tried to be respectful of talking to them and using it as a resource because they both are friends and I knew them well enough to talk to them. After that, I kind of left it alone, because I didn't want them to have to feel like they had conflict of interest with other friendships … other coaches that they knew, if I'm being honest."
Establishing his own program
The first season for Parker at Troy would be up-and-down. The Trojans went 4-8 but finished strong by winning three of the final four games in setting the groundwork for what was ahead.
Last season, Troy got off to another rocky start at 1-2 after some early-season injuries to key members of the team. However, the Trojans turned the corner with five straight wins on the way to an 8-6 overall record, 6-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, and a berth in the SBC Championship Game.
Following spring drills this past April, it was apparent Parker is now more at ease in his surroundings and confident the program is on solid footing.
"There is no comfort, per se, in the process of making sure you're ready, but there is a comfort, or whatever the word is, of just having a peace and confidence of what our program is … our people and our staff, and then our players … in how we built the roster," Parker said.
"Honestly, if we're good at our jobs and we're doing this right, it should feel that way, although there is uncertainty in college football. I feel great about what we're doing because of the people I'm doing it with, including our players. That's why I felt the way I did in the spring, and it's a much better feeling."
During this time of the year, Parker believes building relationships is every bit as important, if not more so, than the physical preparations.
"For this to go really well, we've got to literally embrace every day," Parker said. "You can't win at the level we want to at Troy, or anywhere, if you don't care about people. I just want to teach and love our people, and get them to care for each other, and hold each other accountable.
"Just getting this thing connected to where people learn each other's names, and learn what they're about, and learn more than just about football is my biggest passion for the summer.
"This team is on their way to embracing that, and it just feels different. We'll get our bodies right, and we'll train hard, but man, if these guys care about each other as they do it, that's when things uncommon can happen."
Away from the field
When asked what Parker likes to do away from football, it brings a laugh. Like most coaches, he's consumed with the sport. Even some of his relaxation involves team preparation.
"Something I've learned that really settles me is that anytime I have a thought, or things I know I want to make sure we get to our team, I put notes in my phone and date them," Parker said. "It helps me kind of manage my thoughts and empty the tank, if you will, so it doesn't create anxieties for me."
Getting an early tee time on a golf course is also something Parker finds as a stress release.
"My one hobby, or one thing that I do enjoy, is I like having the first tee time in the summer and playing golf when I can, because I don't play during the season," Parker said. "I like to get the first tee time and see the course before everybody else is on it and get away. I'm not very good, but I like the peace of a golf course."
Most importantly, Parker enjoys time with his family - wife Kandi of 21 years, and children Kolbi, Gwyneth, Rosalyn and Oliver.
"We'll get a little time this summer and we do like to travel and vacation when we can," Parker said. "I'm at peace and happy here. I'm proud of people - our families, our staff and our players - how this community has taken all of us in.
"We're in a good place to where we're thankful about where we are and what we have. We want to continue to build it the right way and build relationships that matter with everybody."
Being called "Coach" throughout the Troy community signals Parker has made some significant strides in that direction.
"I think that is an earned title, especially at a place like this that has high expectations," Parker said. "At first, nobody knows who you are because we weren't from here or hadn't been here.
"I love that we had to build it from scratch and earn the respect from everybody, and do it following great success, which is very difficult to do."
Before he was named the new head football coach at Troy in December of 2023 following two years as an assistant at Notre Dame, the final one as offensive coordinator, Parker had visited Troy's campus a few times.
The first time was in 2005 as an assistant coach of wide receivers and defensive backs in his home state of Kentucky at Raceland High School. It was his first full-time coaching job after graduating from the University of Kentucky, where he was a wide receiver from 2000-2004.
"We drove a yellow school bus from Raceland, Kentucky, to come down here and do a camp with the Tony Franklin System," Parker said, referring to the former Troy offensive coordinator who operated what was one of the most innovative offensive attacks at the time.
The next trip came as a college football assistant coach.
"I got my first job in college at UT Martin. I got in the car one morning at 5, and I drove straight on a full tank of gas from Martin, Tennessee, to Troy, Alabama, and came and visited with Chad Scott, who was the running backs coach at the time.
"I had just got hired at UT Martin (2008) to coach running backs and didn't have any idea what I was doing. Chad and I came in together at Kentucky - we were in the signing class together - so I came down here to get taught up on how in the world I was going to do that.
"So, I had been to Troy those two times. Then in the spring of 2017, I drove down here to see Neal Brown (Troy head coach from 2015-2018) and visit with that staff as well. I was familiar, at least enough, to have been here before taking the job."
Coaching at a young age
Parker knew at an early age that coaching was something he would likely want to pursue following his playing days, whether it was on a basketball court or football field.
"I remember vividly Dad pouring a concrete basketball court in our backyard," Parker said. "I thought I was going to be a basketball player.
"You're looking at camps … camps were big … and I'm like, 'Alright, I want to go to these camps.' And he was like, 'You can go to any camp that you want to son. I'll pay for half, and you have to pay for the other half.' So, I mowed yards in our neighborhood (to make money)."
Parker also realized he had a knack for teaching the game of basketball to some of the children in the neighborhood.
"There were six to 10 kids from the age range of anywhere from six to eight years old, so I taught basketball lessons in my backyard when I was 12, 13 and 14 years old," Parker said. "I developed a way to maybe deliver a message and teach at a young age, so I knew I wanted to coach. I just honestly didn't know what I wanted to coach, and how and where, until the end of my senior (college) year."
Up and down playing career
Parker grew up in the small town of Louisa in Eastern Kentucky near the West Virginia border, where he excelled in football. He became the state's all-time leader in career receiving yards with 4,814 while compiling 238 catches and 52 touchdowns at Lawrence County High School from 1996 to 1999. Parker was a finalist for the 1999 Kentucky Mr. Football Award and was also a standout in track and basketball.
Following graduation in 2000, Parker accepted a football scholarship to the University of Kentucky. He was hampered by injuries during his college career and didn't record any statistics until his senior season, in which he caught 15 passes for 168 yards.
However, playing for three head coaches during his time there from 2000-2004 - Hal Mumme (2000), Guy Morriss (2001-2002) and Rich Brooks (2003-2004) - helped mold Parker into the coach he's become.
"Just sharing really one true semester with Hal Mumme was short-lived, but Mumme was such a good people's person, and such a good offensive mind," Parker said. "He started that whole tree that still exists today from the system of Air Raid and things. That left a mark on me.
"Guy Morriss brought such a toughness, and such a different perspective for preparation than what everyone was used to from Mumme, because of his offensive lineman mentality, and he built great relationships.
"And Rich Brooks brought like this whole defense approach - like this NFL model - because he had been in the NFL. He would admit it was really rocky to start, but when we figured it out, and he then built relationships of caring and built this great staff around him, we all understood him better, and it was such a cool thing.
"It was three different views that were really a blessing in the end to get around that many minds."
After two years as an assistant on the high school level, Parker set his sights on coaching in the college ranks.
"I knew after the first year I got done (as a high school coach) that I needed to go learn more and realized I wanted to do this in college," Parker said of coaching football.
Brooks gave him that opportunity, hiring Parker as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 2007 to help with wide receivers and the offensive scout team.
Moving up the ranks
After a year as a graduate assistant at Kentucky, Parker was hired as running backs coach at UT Martin (2008-2009) and was elevated to wide receivers/passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the 2010 season.
Parker then quickly began climbing the ladder, taking a job at Marshall as wide receivers coach (2011-2012), Purdue as tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator (2013-2014) and then wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator (2015-2016).
It was during the 2016 season at Purdue that Parker was elevated to interim head coach for the final six games of the season after head coach Darrell Hazell was fired following a 3-3 start to the season, which included a 1-2 mark in Big Ten play.
While the Boilermakers went 0-6 during that stretch with Parker in charge, the team did play competitively, and Parker learned some valuable lessons along the way.
"Number one, I didn't know that those damn six losses would follow me and count on my head coaching record," Parker said with a chuckle. "We played so much better, but we still didn't win.
"I learned so many things of what not to do and figuring it out, but also some things about motivation and how we change practice and things that I've kept with me.
"More importantly, it offered me this look into the window of being a head coach and realizing everything that happens, and every decision you make in all of it, is all my responsibility. It quickly taught me that you can't say, 'It was our defense, or it was our offense.'
"I remember going to the first postgame press conference and them (media) saying, 'How do you think your defense played?' and I had just gotten done being a wideouts coach the week before being named the interim (head coach).
"I'm like, hold on a second, 'My defense?' I just came out of being a wideouts coach. But that was a valuable lesson in dealing with the media, answering for the football program and having plans.
"I kept a lot of notes on purpose because I hoped this would lead to me becoming a head coach again. What better way than to be in charge of a Big Ten program and get a glimpse of this is what this is. That's what it afforded me.
"Still, until you do it, you don't know all the other things. But it sure gave me maybe some cheat notes on it."
Taking on new challenges
Parker spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Duke, the first year as offensive operations assistant and second year coaching wide receivers.
In 2019, Parker moved on to Penn State as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator and then moved to West Virginia from 2020-2021 to become the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under former Troy head coach Neal Brown.
In 2022, Parker was hired as tight ends coach at Notre Dame and elevated to offensive coordinator in 2023.
All along, Parker was preparing for a chance to one day lead another football program as a head coach.
"After that time (at Purdue), I started to make a bunch of notes in my phone about future programs, our core values - like the things I knew I wanted a program to be if I was the head of it, because I wanted to be ready," Parker said. "Other than that, I tried to be the best football coach at your position that you could be in the country or at least make sure you're in that conversation.
"But in the times I dreamed of the future, I certainly made a ton of notes and stayed ready so when a call comes from a Troy, you didn't have to say, 'OK, what's your program going to stand for? Who are you going to hire?'"
Getting a chance at Troy
When Jon Sumrall left Troy to become the new head coach at Tulane after the Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference championship for a second straight year in 2023, Parker found himself in the mix for the opening.
Among the phone calls he made to get some input were to Brown and Sumrall, who not only coached at Troy, but spent time as teammates of his at the University of Kentucky.
"I had one really good conversation with each of them," Parker said. "One, maybe get an idea from their perspective about the place, and just for some insight. I didn't get carried away, because at that point there are several names involved on the front end of that stuff and they've got other people that they know that were also interested (in the Troy job).
"I tried to be respectful of talking to them and using it as a resource because they both are friends and I knew them well enough to talk to them. After that, I kind of left it alone, because I didn't want them to have to feel like they had conflict of interest with other friendships … other coaches that they knew, if I'm being honest."
Establishing his own program
The first season for Parker at Troy would be up-and-down. The Trojans went 4-8 but finished strong by winning three of the final four games in setting the groundwork for what was ahead.
Last season, Troy got off to another rocky start at 1-2 after some early-season injuries to key members of the team. However, the Trojans turned the corner with five straight wins on the way to an 8-6 overall record, 6-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, and a berth in the SBC Championship Game.
Following spring drills this past April, it was apparent Parker is now more at ease in his surroundings and confident the program is on solid footing.
"There is no comfort, per se, in the process of making sure you're ready, but there is a comfort, or whatever the word is, of just having a peace and confidence of what our program is … our people and our staff, and then our players … in how we built the roster," Parker said.
"Honestly, if we're good at our jobs and we're doing this right, it should feel that way, although there is uncertainty in college football. I feel great about what we're doing because of the people I'm doing it with, including our players. That's why I felt the way I did in the spring, and it's a much better feeling."
During this time of the year, Parker believes building relationships is every bit as important, if not more so, than the physical preparations.
"For this to go really well, we've got to literally embrace every day," Parker said. "You can't win at the level we want to at Troy, or anywhere, if you don't care about people. I just want to teach and love our people, and get them to care for each other, and hold each other accountable.
"Just getting this thing connected to where people learn each other's names, and learn what they're about, and learn more than just about football is my biggest passion for the summer.
"This team is on their way to embracing that, and it just feels different. We'll get our bodies right, and we'll train hard, but man, if these guys care about each other as they do it, that's when things uncommon can happen."
Away from the field
When asked what Parker likes to do away from football, it brings a laugh. Like most coaches, he's consumed with the sport. Even some of his relaxation involves team preparation.
"Something I've learned that really settles me is that anytime I have a thought, or things I know I want to make sure we get to our team, I put notes in my phone and date them," Parker said. "It helps me kind of manage my thoughts and empty the tank, if you will, so it doesn't create anxieties for me."
Getting an early tee time on a golf course is also something Parker finds as a stress release.
"My one hobby, or one thing that I do enjoy, is I like having the first tee time in the summer and playing golf when I can, because I don't play during the season," Parker said. "I like to get the first tee time and see the course before everybody else is on it and get away. I'm not very good, but I like the peace of a golf course."
Most importantly, Parker enjoys time with his family - wife Kandi of 21 years, and children Kolbi, Gwyneth, Rosalyn and Oliver.
"We'll get a little time this summer and we do like to travel and vacation when we can," Parker said. "I'm at peace and happy here. I'm proud of people - our families, our staff and our players - how this community has taken all of us in.
"We're in a good place to where we're thankful about where we are and what we have. We want to continue to build it the right way and build relationships that matter with everybody."
Being called "Coach" throughout the Troy community signals Parker has made some significant strides in that direction.
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