PARKER GETS FIRST HEAD COACHING JOB AT TROY UNIVERSITY

Troy, Alabama — Former Lawrence Co. Bulldog and Univ of Ky.  standout Gerad Parker will be the new head football coach at Troy University. 

Parker, 42, was a standout football and basketball player for the Bulldogs and is a Lawrence Co. graduate. 

Parker, who has also worked at Purdue, Cincinnati, Duke, Penn State and West Virginia, spent the last two years at Notre Dame. He arrived as tight ends coach in 2022 and was elevated to offensive coordinator prior to the 2023 season.

Under the direction of Parker and with veteran transfer Sam Hartman at quarterback, the Irish finished ninth in the FBS in yards per play (6.95) during a 9-3 season that earned them a Sun Bowl trip.

Although Parker doesn’t have previous Troy coaching experience, unlike the program’s most recent three head coaches, he did overlap as a player at Kentucky with Neal Brown and Jon Sumrall. Sumrall took the Tulane job this month after posting a 23-4 record at Troy.

More later…