What they’re saying about Gerad Parker becoming the Notre Dame OC
It took nearly two weeks for Notre Dame to find its next offensive coordinator. Turns out, he was right in front of head coach Marcus Freeman all along.
Tight ends coach Gerad Parker is expected to be named the Fighting Irish offensive coordinator, according to numerous reports. Parker is familiar with Freeman dating back to their time as assistants at Purdue from 2013-16.
Parker isn’t a flashy hire. He is nowhere near as experienced as Utah’s Andy Ludwig, who appeared to have the job in the bag until Notre Dame fumbled it at the 11th hour. But Parker isn’t totally ill-equipped to take on his new role, either. The Athletic’s Pete Sampson offered perspective on that via Twitter Wednesday evening.
“Power 5 OC experience of Notre Dame’s past eight offensive coordinators before getting the Irish job.
“Gerad Parker: Two seasons
“Tommy Rees: One game
“Chip Long: None
“Mike Sanford: None
“Mike Denbrock: None
“Chuck Martin: None
“Charley Molnar: None
“Mike Haywood: None
“Just a thought.”
Parker was not Freeman’s first choice to replace Rees as the Irish’s OC. But he was always a solid fallback option. His two years spent as the West Virginia offensive coordinator from 2020-21 will serve him well in guiding the Irish offense.
That said, it will take some time for Notre Dame fans and media alike to get over how the Irish handled the courtship of Ludwig. He was essentially paraded around campus at a Friday night hockey game — with Parker sitting right next to him, no less — only to be told the ND administration could not pay his buyout and he’d be left at Utah.
The hiring of Parker will always be tied to that situation.
“My main takeaway from this isn’t, ‘How could Notre Dame not pay the buyout and hire Andy Ludwig?’ It’s, ‘How, if you deemed the buyout prohibitive, did you allow Andy Ludwig to wind up sitting next to Marcus Freeman at a hockey game?’” The Athletic’s Andy Staples tweeted. “Better alignment keeps that from happening.”
It seems most fans have come to a consensus on Parker. There is optimism he can succeed, but thoughts of “what if” abound considering Notre Dame had the finish line in sight in trying to pull Ludwig, a 25-year offensive coordinator veteran at the college level, away from Utah.
“I like Gerad Parker as a coach, but if this is the hire, it definitely will be a bit of a disappointment, as there were multiple proven options out there that Notre Dame just missed on,” a Notre Dame fan account tweeted. “Admittedly unfair to Parker, if he’s the hire, there will be backlash. Good coach though.”
Then there are some Notre Dame lifers like former Irish offensive lineman Hunter Spears who have been beating the Parker drum since the moment Rees departed for Alabama.
“I may be biased, but I think the right man for the job is already at Notre Dame,” Spears tweeted on Feb. 4. “An exceptional leader and motivator and incredibly devoted to the game and his players. My vote is for Coach Parker. #GPforOC”
Parker is going to have initial support from Freeman and the players. Will it be enough to put a successful offense on the field this fall? Time will tell. For now, the masses are left having to process the route the Irish took to promote Parker to this elevated position.
“I think Gerad Parker can be a fine OC, but Jack Swarbrick hiring Marcus Freeman and then handcuffing who he can hire is just par for the course,” an Irish fan tweeted Thursday morning. “One step forward, two steps back.”
