BY MARK STORY
mstory@herald-leader.com
Gerad Parker had never been a coffee drinker. This fall changed that for the ex-Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver (2000-04).
In September, Parker and his wife — the former Morehead State and West Carter High School basketball star Kandi Brown, MVP of the 2000 Girls Sweet Sixteen — had their third daughter.
Roughly a month later, Parker, the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Purdue, was called in by Boilermakers Athletics Director Mike Bobinski and given news that rocked his world.
Boilers Head Coach Darrell Hazell had been fired with six games left in the season. The Purdue AD told Parker, 35, he wanted the ex-Lawrence County High School star to take over as interim head coach.
“Between the new baby and (being) the head coach, there has not been a lot of time for sleep,” Parker said Friday. “I’d never been a coffee drinker. This fall, I discovered the value of coffee.”
In the Hollywood version of the story — or even the Dabo Swinney edition — Purdue would have gone 4-2 against the heart of its Big Ten schedule and Parker would have become the Boilermakers’ permanent head coach.
“Of course I thought about that,” Parker said. “I don’t think I would have left Louisa to accomplish what I have if I didn’t think that way.”
