Gerad Parker - Troy Head Coach :)

[IrishLax]

I read a snippet somewhere (maybe ISD) that basically said once we lost our two developed WRs we were in for a rough one because 1) Duke has a good DL with NFL talent 2) they're well coached 3) they could play man in the secondary whenever they wanted without a lot of fear that Merriweather/Flores was going to make a big play against their corners. They said that Mitchell had a big game because he was the one guy that could win his matchup consistently with whatever LB was covering him.

WITH THAT BEING SAID -- I think it's still very fair to say that calling flat footed shotgun runs for Estime was crazy and that there were issues with tendencies becoming predictable. Hopefully we get Thomas and Greathouse back for Louisville/USC.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I read a snippet somewhere (maybe ISD) that basically said once we lost our two developed WRs we were in for a rough one because 1) Duke has a good DL with NFL talent 2) they're well coached 3) they could play man in the secondary whenever they wanted without a lot of fear that Merriweather/Flores was going to make a big play against their corners. They said that Mitchell had a big game because he was the one guy that could win his matchup consistently with whatever LB was covering him.

WITH THAT BEING SAID -- I think it's still very fair to say that calling flat footed shotgun runs for Estime was crazy and that there were issues with tendencies becoming predictable. Hopefully we get Thomas and Greathouse back for Louisville/USC.

I also thought we'd get more push in the run game, our middle got eaten alive. I didn't expect that to be the case. Parker didn't help them, but still.

 

[mrmcgrail]

I love pin and pull blocking and it had been good most of the year but Coogan was so bad and slow pulling last week even in the two back the lead back missed twice in the hole and for some reason went to the second level and thar guy made the play

 

[NDFAN2008]

I read a snippet somewhere (maybe ISD) that basically said once we lost our two developed WRs we were in for a rough one because 1) Duke has a good DL with NFL talent 2) they're well coached 3) they could play man in the secondary whenever they wanted without a lot of fear that Merriweather/Flores was going to make a big play against their corners. They said that Mitchell had a big game because he was the one guy that could win his matchup consistently with whatever LB was covering him.

WITH THAT BEING SAID -- I think it's still very fair to say that calling flat footed shotgun runs for Estime was crazy and that there were issues with tendencies becoming predictable. Hopefully we get Thomas and Greathouse back for Louisville/USC.

I

I also thought we'd get more push in the run game, our middle got eaten alive. I didn't expect that to be the case. Parker didn't help them, but still.

I'm guessing Greathouse in back and Thomas dresses and only plays if needed.

 

[forkbeard3777]

I also thought we'd get more push in the run game, our middle got eaten alive. I didn't expect that to be the case. Parker didn't help them, but still.

I was impressed with their DT — #90. Very disruptive. He’s a Sunday, NFL player.

 

[Domina Nostra]

IMHO, I have seen many good OCs have bad days. And every good team has bad games. I hope that's what Saturday was.

As much as we hate that ND has coaches learning on the job, that is clearly what was happening:

• Weeks of emphasis on OSU
• OSU heartbreak hangover
• Immediate transition to a Duke team that is actually decent (thanks for the 8 straight weeks Jack!)
• The biggest home game for Duke in a LONG time
• Failure to ride Estime at end of OSU, probably led to too much emphasis on him in this game, but the 5-back system has him shoe-horned a bit too much
• Loss of key WR options
• Merriweather's bad game

He was not ready for all of that and appeared to get overwhelmed.

So hopefully things improve from here, but the lack of creativity in the running game was down right odd, as was the failure to lean on the TEs more.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I love pin and pull blocking and it had been good most of the year but Coogan was so bad and slow pulling last week even in the two back the lead back missed twice in the hole and for some reason went to the second level and thar guy made the play

Coogan was limping most of the game. Is Billy not better than a hobbled Coogan?

 

[Rockin’Irish]

IMHO, I have seen many good OCs have bad days. And every good team has bad games. I hope that's what Saturday was.

As much as we hate that ND has coaches learning on the job, that is clearly what was happening:

• Weeks of emphasis on OSU
• OSU heartbreak hangover
• Immediate transition to a Duke team that is actually decent (thanks for the 8 straight weeks Jack!)
• The biggest home game for Duke in a LONG time
• Failure to ride Estime at end of OSU, probably led to too much emphasis on him in this game, but the 5-back system has him shoe-horned a bit too much
• Loss of key WR options
• Merriweather's bad game

He was not ready for all of that and appeared to get overwhelmed.

So hopefully things improve from here, but the lack of creativity in the running game was down right odd, as was the failure to lean on the TEs more.

Totally agree, things didn’t look good offensively overall against Duke but a game does not define an OC. If it becomes a trend, that’s a different story……rushing to judgement because some didn’t like the hire isn’t the best approach. Let’s see if the offense comes alive against Louisville, if the individual players execute when they have the opportunity and if additional weapons are available.

 

[theclassickiller]

The sentiment around here feels very much like "he's doing alright for a dude who's out of his league." You can't seriously make excuses for a guy at this level. This is big-time football. Look, I don't want the guy gone in the middle of the season. That would be an absolute disaster. But we need to be shopping in the offseason. There's no way you should give this experiment another season. Golden made a couple of really bad mistakes toward the end of the OSU game, but the reason we were even in the position to make those mistakes is the offensive playcalling.

It feels like Parker has been figured out, and he can't make the necessary adjustments. He's in a lose-lose-lose situation, and that's really not his fault. He's just in waaaaay over his head. He has no business calling plays at this level, and it looks worse for him that he's at a top-10 program with elite talent (I get we were down receivers, but we still had way more talent on the field than Duke) and can't figure out what to do with it. The last 4.5 quarters were just objectively bad, predictable, uncreative playcalling. Granted, Elko is the best defensive coach we'll play against this year. And he made Parker look silly like he should have. But if you think Brohm isn't salivating watching that playcalling, you're crazy. Brohm, if nothing else, is a great big-game coach and knows how to take advantage of mismatches. He will surely have ways to make a Parker-led offense pedestrian, again. The script is out, and if something doesn't change in the booth, we're in for a long season.

I really hope he proves me wrong, but as I see it, Parker just isn't the guy. I hate that we have Hartman for one season, and we have a playcaller who should still have training wheels on in the FCS. Without Hartman's heroics in the last 90 seconds, this board would have their pitchforks out. Hartman and Estime are the only dudes making Parker look like he has any idea what he's doing.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

3 WR were injured for this game. That's half the two deep. I think everyone is making good points about the tendencies and some lack of imagination, but the reality is they're winning more quarters than they are not.

5-1, ranked 10th in the country and people are posting along that the current OC just isn't the right guy while he has a QB and two RB in the 2025 verballed in. A lot of fan bases would look at this and probably scratch their heads at the level of bitchery and whining.

I'm glad I know the final score because coming out here, in virtually every thread, it's hard to fathom Notre Dame beat Duke Saturday night based on the reactions. Winning is fun for fans and difficult for football teams. Enjoy victories. There is going to be more than enough time for the reality of setbacks, disappointment and angst. Enjoy the good times while we have them.

 

[theclassickiller]

I'm glad I know the final score because coming out here, in virtually every thread, it's hard to fathom Notre Dame beat Duke Saturday night based on the reactions. Winning is fun for fans and difficult for football teams. Enjoy victories. There is going to be more than enough time for the reality of setbacks, disappointment and angst. Enjoy the good times while we have them.

This is what top-tier programs tend to avoid. We're only complaining because we know how good this team is. There should be a constant strive to fix the weakest link, and I think that link is Parker. If we had a god-awful QB room, we'd all be throwing a fit that we haven't upgraded at QB, even if we were 5-1. The ceiling is incredibly high for this team. Now we need to bring the floor up to really become elite.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

The sentiment around here feels very much like "he's doing alright for a dude who's out of his league." You can't seriously make excuses for a guy at this level. This is big-time football. Look, I don't want the guy gone in the middle of the season. That would be an absolute disaster. But we need to be shopping in the offseason. There's no way you should give this experiment another season. Golden made a couple of really bad mistakes toward the end of the OSU game, but the reason we were even in the position to make those mistakes is the offensive playcalling.

It feels like Parker has been figured out, and he can't make the necessary adjustments. He's in a lose-lose-lose situation, and that's really not his fault. He's just in waaaaay over his head. He has no business calling plays at this level, and it looks worse for him that he's at a top-10 program with elite talent (I get we were down receivers, but we still had way more talent on the field than Duke) and can't figure out what to do with it. The last 4.5 quarters were just objectively bad, predictable, uncreative playcalling. Granted, Elko is the best defensive coach we'll play against this year. And he made Parker look silly like he should have. But if you think Brohm isn't salivating watching that playcalling, you're crazy. Brohm, if nothing else, is a great big-game coach and knows how to take advantage of mismatches. He will surely have ways to make a Parker-led offense pedestrian, again. The script is out, and if something doesn't change in the booth, we're in for a long season.

I really hope he proves me wrong, but as I see it, Parker just isn't the guy. I hate that we have Hartman for one season, and we have a playcaller who should still have training wheels on in the FCS. Without Hartman's heroics in the last 90 seconds, this board would have their pitchforks out. Hartman and Estime are the only dudes making Parker look like he has any idea what he's doing.

1) He is fairly new, and he has made a TON of on the fly adjustments all year. Duke is the only one that is questionable.
2) Really? Based on 3 really good games, 1 ok game, and 1 stinker
3) You have no business posting on message boards. You are in way over your head

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

This is what top-tier programs tend to avoid. We're only complaining because we know how good this team is. There should be a constant strive to fix the weakest link, and I think that link is Parker. If we had a god-awful QB room, we'd all be throwing a fit that we haven't upgraded at QB, even if we were 5-1. The ceiling is incredibly high for this team. Now we need to bring the floor up to really become elite.

Their weakest link is the amount of penalties they've committed as a team so far.

 

[PutuporShutup]

3 WR were injured for this game. That's half the two deep. I think everyone is making good points about the tendencies and some lack of imagination, but the reality is they're winning more quarters than they are not.

5-1, ranked 10th in the country and people are posting along that the current OC just isn't the right guy while he has a QB and two RB in the 2025 verballed in. A lot of fan bases would look at this and probably scratch their heads at the level of bitchery and whining.

I'm glad I know the final score because coming out here, in virtually every thread, it's hard to fathom Notre Dame beat Duke Saturday night based on the reactions. Winning is fun for fans and difficult for football teams. Enjoy victories. There is going to be more than enough time for the reality of setbacks, disappointment and angst. Enjoy the good times while we have them.

It's always what have you done for me lately..... Really good offenses can score on any D, i expected us to have a really good offense, we don't. Is that WRs, OL, Parker..... probably a bit of all of those. We've scored 14 and 21 points last 2 games against good defenses. We should have IMO scored 30ish both games.

We face another solid D. Do we score 30+ and get back on track or not this week? I'm not confident

 

[loweND]

One really small thing - that nobody has mentioned is not taking a knee to end the game. It's a small knit, because the chance of something going south is low - but why did we have Estime (who has had fumble trouble in the past) ploughing into the line with 30 seconds to go in a one score game? I'm guessing this is more of a Freeman call - but I just can't understand it.

 

[theclassickiller]

1) He is fairly new, and he has made a TON of on the fly adjustments all year. Duke is the only one that is questionable.
2) Really? Based on 3 really good games, 1 ok game, and 1 stinker
3) You have no business posting on message boards. You are in way over your head

Nice

 

[mrmcgrail]

They are also leaving points on the field and have had drive killing penalties. Osu should have had more then 14 and Duke they were dominating the first half but didn't close. Our red zone issues on defense have kinda morphed to the offense this year

 

[theclassickiller]

One really small thing - that nobody has mentioned is not taking a knee to end the game. It's a small knit, because the chance of something going south is low - but why did we have Estime (who has had fumble trouble in the past) ploughing into the line with 30 seconds to go in a one score game? I'm guessing this is more of a Freeman call - but I just can't understand it.

Definitely seemed weird. Estime has been a lot better with ball security this year, but it still seemed like a risk we didn't need to take. But, like you said, that's a small nitpick.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

I was impressed with their DT — #90. Very disruptive. He’s a Sunday, NFL player.

Think he played here for three years first

 

[Old Man Mike]

I just think that "young" coach Parker ran into the combo buzzsaw of Mike Elko plus only two serviceable wide- receivers.

I was enlightened by the looks on Elko's face when he knew he'd called something superior but we still overcame it --- and that happened several times.

Also I'd note that our offense was usually crippled (in my opinion) by an incredibly-unlike-us slew of nuisance 5-yard penalties.
Had we'd been as "clean" as Duke, I believe that we would have pushed away from them. ... and, no, given the veteran nature
of this OLine and general personnel elsewhere, I don't blame the staff for 5-yard penalties. Correll had a fairly bad game --- he
was facing an NFL quality brute for sure, but he still could do better. AND, we should have recognized that issue sooner and
changed the "help" scheme. THAT IS on the staff at that point.

Sam was great, despite board bitching. He had exactly ONE guy that he could truly rely on in the pass game. Amazing effort.

 

[stlnd01]

This is what top-tier programs tend to avoid. We're only complaining because we know how good this team is. There should be a constant strive to fix the weakest link, and I think that link is Parker. If we had a god-awful QB room, we'd all be throwing a fit that we haven't upgraded at QB, even if we were 5-1. The ceiling is incredibly high for this team. Now we need to bring the floor up to really become elite.

Curious what top-tier programs you’re talking about. Or did you miss the Georgia-Auburn game, Bama’s shitshow QB room and Louisiana State?

College football is little but setbacks, disappointments and angst. That’s why we love it.

 

[NDRock]

One really small thing - that nobody has mentioned is not taking a knee to end the game. It's a small knit, because the chance of something going south is low - but why did we have Estime (who has had fumble trouble in the past) ploughing into the line with 30 seconds to go in a one score game? I'm guessing this is more of a Freeman call - but I just can't understand it.

I assume they were thinking Duke would start using their 3 timeouts. Taking a knee each time may have left some time on the clock. Forget what it was on when we got the ball back.

 

[IrishLax]

We also have an erratic college kicker. I want Estime going into the endzone 100 out of 100 times.

If there are ~2 minutes left on the clock and they have no timeouts there is a case for going down, for sure. But 30 seconds? Score the TD. Don't overthink it.

 

[NDohio]

Think he played here for three years first

That was #5

 

[Lberry]

Was the Duke DL barking go/hut? I couldn't hear the broadcast but so many false starts, and a few where multiple jumped simultaneously sure makes it seem likely.

 

[LSWho?]

Was the Duke DL barking go/hut? I couldn't hear the broadcast but so many false starts, and a few where multiple jumped simultaneously sure makes it seem likely.

I had that same perception. After one of the false starts, which was clearly a false start, Freeman turned to yell not at the player but at the ref. That made me think the coaches were observing Duke imitating the snap call, which is exactly something an experienced coordinator like Elko would teach and implement during a home night game.

Add the circumstantial evidence: Hartman is an experienced quarterback, the line has never had that many false starts before, and Duke was definitely anticipating the cadence on their A-gap blitzes. It's a reasonable assumption that they were imitating the snap call.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

We also have an erratic college kicker. I want Estime going into the endzone 100 out of 100 times.

If there are ~2 minutes left on the clock and they have no timeouts there is a case for going down, for sure. But 30 seconds? Score the TD. Don't overthink it.

Yeah, 5 of 10 this year with a long of 54. He was 2 for 3 against Duke. Missed a 37 yarder but made a 45 yarder.

I'd rather not see him. Go for it on fourth down and try to score touchdowns. They're lucky Estime scored at the end because who knows what would've happened had they tried going for a 16-14 win.

 

[condoms SUCk]

Duke has a tough D and we're coming off a heartbreaking loss, I will give Parker a "pass". However, definitely need to get the early season offense back against Louisville. Team needs a boost of confidence and get ready for what most certainly be a shootout game against USC, anything less that 40pts is most certainly a loss.

 

[stlnd01]

Was the Duke DL barking go/hut? I couldn't hear the broadcast but so many false starts, and a few where multiple jumped simultaneously sure makes it seem likely.

Their QB was doing some weird clapping pre-snap that seemed to draw us offsides a couple of times early in the game as well. Wouldn’t be surprised if all that was by design.