Ohio State's Kenny Parker hired as Rutgers head strength coach

Ohio State assistant strength coach Kenny Parker has been hired as Rutgers’s new head strength coach.

Ohio State assistant strength coach Kenny Parker has been hired as Rutgers’s new head strength coach, according to a source.

Rutgers later announced the hiring Friday afternoon.

Parker joins new head coach Chris Ash’s staff with the Scarlet Knights. Ash also moved from Ohio State this season after serving as the Buckeyes’ co-defensive coordinator for the past two seasons, including last year’s national championship squad. He replaces Kyle Flood at Rutgers after Flood was fired following a 4–8 season in which he was suspended for three games due to improperly contacting a professor about a player’s grade.

Parker had been at Ohio State for three seasons following two years as a defensive line coach at Murray State. He also spent a year as the Racers’ director of player development.

He played defensive tackle for Florida from 2000 through ’04 and stayed with Gators after graduation under Urban Meyer as a defensive intern, graduate assistant and assistant director with Florida’s football camps.

At Rutgers, Parker replaces Jeremy Cole, who spent the past four seasons with the Scarlet Knights.