Former Kentucky WR Gerad Parker named offensive coordinator at Notre Dame

Following the departure of Tommy Rees to Alabama, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman had to go on the hunt to find his second offensive coordinator in two years in South Bend. Unfortunately, that search got rocky with Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein pulling out of the search early and Notre Dame seemingly refusing to pay the buyout for Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig.

The timing was not great for Freeman with spring football quickly approaching. On Wednesday, the former Ohio State linebacker decided to promote from within. Former Kentucky wide receiver and Lawrence County star Gerad Parker is getting his first play-calling opportunity at one of the biggest programs in college football.

Notre Dame is reportedly expected to promote tight ends coach Gerad Parker as next offensive coordinator.

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— On3 (@On3sports) February 15, 2023

The 42-year-old is Lawrence County alum who logged 4,814 receiving yards during his prep career will now be calling plays for the Fighting Irish. Parker played for Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss, and Rich Brooks during his five years (2000-04) as a member of the Kentucky football team. The in-state product immediately jumped into coaching upon graduation.

After a pit stop in the high school ranks, Parker was a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 2007 under Brooks before landing a full-time job at UT-Martin in 2008. The riser would then land back in the FBS in 2011 at Marshall and would get his first Power Five opportunity at Purdue in 2013. Parker would spend four seasons in West Lafayette and would become the interim head coach for Purdue in 2016 after Darrell Hazell was fired.

From there, Parker would spend two seasons at Duke (2017-18) and was at Penn State for one season in 2019. Parker then joined Neal Brown’s staff at West Virginia where he held a non-play-calling offensive coordinator role for two years before moving to Notre Dame in 2022. After just one season in South Bend, Parker has been promoted to offensive coordinator.

Former Highlands quarterback Gino Guidugli will be joining the Notre Dame staff to work with Parker as the quarterbacks coach for the Irish. Guidugli spent the last six seasons at Cincinnati where he was the offensive coordinator in 2022. That play-calling experience should come in handy as Parker will be calling the shots for the first time in his coaching career.

Expectations are very high for the Irish after landing Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman. There will be pressure to perform for Gerad Parker immediately but there is no denying that this is a tremendous opportunity for the University of Kentucky alum.