Gerad Parker - Troy Head Coach :)

[T-Boone]

Never in my life have I heard a current player or staff member at the school say "I don't know about that one..."

It's as meaningless as Roberts over at IB getting some West Virginia players to go on record about how Parker's a really good guy.

It’s a good endorsement from spears. But he wouldn’t know much about how he is compared to other options.

 

[Irish#1]

P

Behind Holtz, Kelly is one of the great turn around coached in CFP. ND fans didn’t know how great they had it. Kelly had to fight Swarbrick at every turn to invest in the program. Now Kelly is gone and he has turned around LSU already.

Now Swarbrick is free of Kelly and promoted Freeman who he can overlord in a way he could not with Kelly.

What was Top 5 under Kelly is Top 25 under Swarbrick. No CFP anytime soon.

So we're not top 5. Since you've got this pegged so well, can you be more specific on the 25? Are we 6-8, 9-12, 13-18, 19-21, 21-25?

 

[Irishdrunk]

So we're not top 5. Since you've got this pegged so well, can you be more specific on the 25? Are we 6-8, 9-12, 13-18, 19-21, 21-25?

The SP+ and Too Early Preseason has ND at 15. That is about right.

 

[Irishdrunk]

The negativity towards parker is not personal it’s just he is the face of the last week.
The last week is a line in the sand where ND has openly admitted they aren’t even vaguely interested in competing with the main contenders in college football.

Agreed. It’s the latest in the Admin showing its hand that saving money by not reinvesting is most important to them. It’s just a harsh reality for many to digest.

Holtz could have had multiple Nattys if ND Admin didn’t turn on him. Never been the same since.

 

[ColinKSU]

So we're not top 5. Since you've got this pegged so well, can you be more specific on the 25? Are we 6-8, 9-12, 13-18, 19-21, 21-25?

I think Notre Dame is willing to spend like a 10-15 team, and they're clearly a tier-two program, if not tier-three in today's college football hierarchy. They're content with paying for 8-9 wins a year.

They're not playing the same game as Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State; there's no way I can tell you with a straight face that they're a top 5 team. They're winning at a 5-10 level right now, but they're *definitely* not spending like a program that aspires to be a 1-5 program.

 

[Irishdrunk]

I think Notre Dame is willing to spend like a 10-15 team, and they're clearly a tier-two program, if not a tier-three one in today's college football hierarchy. They're content with paying for 8-9 wins a year.

They're not playing the same game as Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State; there's no way I can tell you with a straight face that they're a top 5 team. They're winning at a 5-10 level right now, but they're *definitely* not spending like a program that aspires to be a 1-5 program.

Exactly. The saving Grace in this debacle is we no longer have to get our hopes up on competing for Nattys when we are clearly not committing the resources to secure players and coaching to win at that level.

 

[irishog77]

So you dont think its justified to make people support their opinion with facts or at least be able to articulate from their experience why they feel this way about him? Its fair to just say "horrible hire", "Parker sucks", etc when in reality they know very little if nothing at all about his offenses? Ok man...

I don't know what you're talking about, I guess you missed hundreds of posts on here over the last couple of days. People have been supporting their opinion with facts. There are more facts out there than his playbook and philosophy (which I even specifically addressed yesterday).

Here are the facts we do know about Parker:
-AC that has bounced around, at some decent programs and some crappy programs.
-worked under some decent HC's and some crappy HC's
-has 2 years of OC experience, the vast majority of which he never even called the plays. His 2 years as OC, his team was crappy, but yes, the team made marginal offensive improvement when he called the plays
-as far as anybody knows, hasn't interviewed or been connected to any other OC jobs since his stint as OC.
-he's buddies with Freeman and has coached on same staff as him
-his name has never been one in the coaching ranks, nor media ranks, that has ever generated any buzz about being any type of rising star.
-he spells his first name weird

Yet again, Parker may turn out to be a good, or even great, OC. But there aren't any facts out there to suggest he will be. ND is a team with championship aspirations in '23. That is a fact. The young, inexperienced, and defensive minded HC just turned his entire offense over to a guy with way more questions and concerns than answers and proven results. Another fact. MF is following a former long term HC who made lazy and easy hires- often times the reason being is that the HC was buddies with the guy. Another fact.

Fans are concerned. Based on the facts, they should be. What are you not seeing?

As Dale said, provide some facts yourself then to demonstrate to us why we shouldn't be concerned. Tell us about his playbook and philosophy to assuage our fears.

This is a message board. People come to spout off about whatever they feel like spouting off about. The "naysayers" of the Parker hire, the vast, vast majority of them, don't want to actually see Parker fail. They'd love to see him be the best offensive innovator, coach, recruiter, and play caller the school has ever had. But they're worried he may not be any of those things, or even come close to being those things. And yet again, Parker may be good. Even good enough for ND to win a Natty. But the optics and the facts we do know look terrible.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I know that the following isn't worth much, but it at least represents some factual things which happened.

The season in which Parker called the last six regular season games for West Virginia went like this:
a. TCU Run: 229 yards Pass: 258 yards Won: 29-17
b. ISU R: 122 yards P: 370 yards Won: 38-31.
c. OKST R: 17 yards P: 116 yards Lost: 3-24 (Note we saw this OKST team in the bowl.)
d. KST R: 77 yards P: 268 yards Lost: 17-34.
e. TX R: 158 yards P: 301 yards Won: 31-23.
f. KU R: 261 yards P: 178 yards Won: 34-28.

Strength of schedule rated 20th in the nation.

FWIW. Some facts to throw around.

 

[irish o'phile]

He looks like he would easily beat Tommy Rees in a fight. So, at minimum, we have a tougher OC now.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

….but you’re not answering it either. Exactly what I said. If you’re gonna play at that game and line of questioning, I think that’s the only fair way to do it. I get that this puts us at an impasse based off your response.

So you want me to answer my own question when I have already said I dont know enough about him to formulate an opinion, but am asking those who have been very vocal about their opinion they DO have to explain why? I think sometimes you argue with people on this board just for the sake of arguing, which is weird because you also have a lot of excellent posts and bring good discussion and information to the board the high majority of the time.

 

[Dale]

So you want me to answer my own question when I have already said I dont know enough about him to formulate an opinion, but am asking those who have been very vocal about their opinion they DO have to explain why? I think sometimes you argue with people on this board just for the sake of arguing, which is weird because you also have a lot of excellent posts and bring good discussion and information to the board the high majority of the time.

I think people are allowed to have opinions on the hire without filling out a book report, one that you knew when you posed many of those questions could not be answered since Parker has little to no history for us to go off. If they could be answered, I invited you to attempt to answer them. I also posted a link from Loy’s What to Expect if you were legitimately interested. I may be arguing just to argue now, but I think posing those questions wasn’t too off from that either.

Again, we’re at an impasse not accomplishing much and your sentiment has been expressed by many, I just happened to respond to this one.

I hope Parker can call plays. I think others were more likely to be effective. I can tell you more about those candidates than Parker, which sheds light on a negative in and of itself, which I also already said. Parker has no offensive identity. He has no scheme. ND could have hired someone with these things and more. Could he be a sleeping giant schematically? Sure. I think it is unlikely compared to others you could have hired.

 

[Fbolt]

After reviewing the last 8+ pages, IE has restored my long standing belief that I pretty much hate people. F me....

 

[GrangerIrish24]

After reviewing the last 8+ pages, IE has restored my long standing belief that I pretty much hate people. F me....

Cheers!

 

[Grahambo]

Stuckey, Heistand, McCullough, Al Washington, and Al Golden were all big pulls last offseason. they may just like Parker and not think Ludwig is worth the extra $$$ that could go elsewhere. They paid big money for assistants last off season and for Freeman as a DC.

But they did want Ludwig and bungled the process. They tried to rectify it but it was too late.

If you looked around all of college football and the NFL and said Parker is our best bet then it’s logical to question the decision. Assume the offense has a good year, you can get to the right answer but if you do it through a flawed process, that won’t stand up for long.

Part of the issue with Parker is not only his lack of experience as an OC calling plays but were other teams in college and the NFL beating down his door to interview him? Does that show that insiders in the game are not impressed? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s not a good sign. He was hired because they didn’t have anywhere else to go. If we want to blame something, then it’s the timing of it all. Does he pick Parker if Rees left in December?

Again, this could work out but the odds are stacked against him. MF is a defensive guy so unlike the BK era where he could be utilized for his offensive experience, who does Parker turn to for offensive advice?

 

[irishog77]

But they did want Ludwig and bungled the process. They tried to rectify it but it was too late.

If you looked around all of college football and the NFL and said Parker is our best bet then it’s logical to question the decision. Assume the offense has a good year, you can get to the right answer but if you do it through a flawed process, that won’t stand up for long.

Part of the issue with Parker is not only his lack of experience as an OC calling plays but were other teams in college and the NFL beating down his door to interview him? Does that show that insiders in the game are not impressed? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s not a good sign. He was hired because they didn’t have anywhere else to go. If we want to blame something, then it’s the timing of it all. Does he pick Parker if Rees left in December?

Again, this could work out but the odds are stacked against him. MF is a defensive guy so unlike the BK era where he could be utilized for his offensive experience, who does Parker turn to for offensive advice?

His hockey bro, Ludwig?

Too soon?

 

[fightingirish26]

Guess I found someone's burner account

Sean got another one lolol

 

[WilliamWallace]

I think people are allowed to have opinions on the hire without filling out a book report, one that you knew when you posed many of those questions could not be answered since Parker has little to no history for us to go off. If they could be answered, I invited you to attempt to answer them. I also posted a link from Loy’s What to Expect if you were legitimately interested. I may be arguing just to argue now, but I think posing those questions wasn’t too off from that either.

Again, we’re at an impasse not accomplishing much and your sentiment has been expressed by many, I just happened to respond to this one.

I hope Parker can call plays. I think others were more likely to be effective. I can tell you more about those candidates than Parker, which sheds light on a negative in and of itself, which I also already said. Parker has no offensive identity. He has no scheme. ND could have hired someone with these things and more. Could he be a sleeping giant schematically? Sure. I think it is unlikely compared to others you could have hired.

So why, if the number one requirement is play calling experience did we end up (quickly) with GP? Something is off! Maybe that wasn’t the first priority. Ultimately Freeman knows his career is on the line. So why go with the comfort hire instead of continuing to search? I think Freeman is smart enough to understand the magnitude of the situation, especially given his shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball. What are we missing here?

Legitimately curious, not argumentative

 

[Grahambo]

His hockey bro, Ludwig?

Too soon?

A solid check….into the boards.

I’ll show myself out.

 

[WilliamWallace]

But they did want Ludwig and bungled the process. They tried to rectify it but it was too late.

If you looked around all of college football and the NFL and said Parker is our best bet then it’s logical to question the decision. Assume the offense has a good year, you can get to the right answer but if you do it through a flawed process, that won’t stand up for long.

Part of the issue with Parker is not only his lack of experience as an OC calling plays but were other teams in college and the NFL beating down his door to interview him? Does that show that insiders in the game are not impressed? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s not a good sign. He was hired because they didn’t have anywhere else to go. If we want to blame something, then it’s the timing of it all. Does he pick Parker if Rees left in December?

Again, this could work out but the odds are stacked against him. MF is a defensive guy so unlike the BK era where he could be utilized for his offensive experience, who does Parker turn to for offensive advice?

MF has to have justified this somehow, that or he was forced.

 

[texbender]

I’m just disappointed in how this went down and how they seemed to fall into a 9th option……. Just kinda sad. My hopes aren’t high and my enthusiasm is in the crapper

This is ND. Look back at some previous FB coaching hires. ND is not sophisticated in these matters, this is pure big time biz and ND doesn't know how to play. And coaching at ND is not as attractive to others as ND might want to think.

 

[irishog77]

MF has to have justified this somehow, that or he was forced.

But who would have forced Freeman to hire Parker? And why?

He's Freeman's guy. He supposedly hired him last year w/out consulting Rees or anybody else. Granted, that's his prerogative as HC. But Parker has no other ties to ND and isn't connected to any of MF's bosses (as far as anybody knows). MF and GP are buddies. They used to carpool to work together.

 

[Foreverirish34]

I don’t know about you guys but I put forth a motion that GP will be referred to as War Daddy from now on.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

I don’t know about you guys but I put forth a motion that GP will be referred to as War Daddy from now on.

He has to earn the Daddy title. I will call him War Child

 

[WilliamWallace]

But who would have forced Freeman to hire Parker? And why?

He's Freeman's guy. He supposedly hired him last year w/out consulting Rees or anybody else. Granted, that's his prerogative as HC. But Parker has no other ties to ND and isn't connected to any of MF's bosses (as far as anybody knows). MF and GP are buddies. They used to carpool to work together.

So maybe not legitimately forced but rather left with no other option. He either has a plan, or he doesn’t know what else to do. Or, he’s been assured that we will be better by GP. Fuck, Or, Hartman said he’d stay and he’s ok with GP. Too many possibilities really.

 

[irishog77]

He has to earn the Daddy title. I will call him War Child

If Rack 'Em had nickel for all the guys who made him call them "Daddy..."

 

[stlnd01]

So why, if the number one requirement is play calling experience did we end up (quickly) with GP? Something is off! Maybe that wasn’t the first priority. Ultimately Freeman knows his career is on the line. So why go with the comfort hire instead of continuing to search? I think Freeman is smart enough to understand the magnitude of the situation, especially given his shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball. What are we missing here?

Legitimately curious, not argumentative

Sampson - who I assume has people close to the program whispering in his ear, at least when it's convenient for them to do so - tweeted something last night about how Clark Lea told him how, after a year on the job at Vandy, Lea realized he was better served by hiring guys who shared and could communicate his values and the culture he was trying to build in that program. As opposed to the "best" Xs-and-Os guy or the flashiest recruiter who didn't necessarily share all that.

Now, that's Vandy, not Notre Dame. And Freeman comes to this with very little offensive experience (hence the premium on a playcaller). And clearly Parker was not the first choice. But that's the closest thing to a rational explanation I've seen yet for how we wound up with Parker, and so quickly after Ludwig turned the job down. Maybe it's not about comfort so much as culture, but either way Freeman trusts that they speak the same language.

I don't know. But it's at least a better reason than "Fuck it I'm hiring Gerry!"

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

 

[Grahambo]

So maybe not legitimately forced but rather left with no other option. He either has a plan, or he doesn’t know what else to do. Or, he’s been assured that we will be better by GP. Fuck, Or, Hartman said he’d stay and he’s ok with GP. Too many possibilities really.

If the rumors are true that ND did try to rectify it but Ludwig said no, then it does show ND was king with MF’s first choice. If that’s the case, then one can assume MF then pivoted to Parker because he fell back into what was convenient and comfortable. He had egg on his face from the hockey game and wanted to put this to bed asap.

Enter Parker. If the offense sputters the first half of the season, does MF have the guts to fire his best friend who was a bad hire? Or does MF go down with the ship?

In the case of someone like Ludwig, he at least has a huge resume that MF can point to and say that it simply didn’t work. That happens.

But in Parker’s case? Calling plays for 6 games two seasons ago? I get people say he’s a good recruiter and cool behind the scenes but at some point who have to orchestrate the entire offense and be an actual coach.

Pete Sampson tweeting that Clark Lea quote is fine but you do need to be able to coach and in Parker’s case: game plan, create new plays, call plays, etc.

A rushed decision that could have huge consequences.

 

[MacIrish75]

Really, if you think about how this whole scenario has played out, there’s only one conclusion you can draw:

Collin Klein fucked us over again. Fuck that dude.

 

[Huntr]

Cliff's notes?