Gerad Parker Quickly Established Himself As The Leader Of The Notre Dame Offense

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was impressed by how quickly first-year offensive coordinator Gerad Parker took charge

The drama surrounding the Notre Dame offensive coordinator search certainly took up a lot of the offseason oxygen, but heading into the 2023 season there are no more questions about who is in charge. Head coach Marcus Freeman eventually hired Gerad Parker, and the Irish head coach is pleased with how things have gone since Parker took over.

Parker wanted things to start with a bang, but Freeman knew it would be a process. By the end of spring, however, the offense under Parker was rolling.

"He's an ultimate competitor, that's what makes him successful and, and I'm sure he wanted to be the most dominant offense in the country, practice one," Freeman stated. "The ability for me as the leader, I think this with one year of experience of going through some ups and downs, being able to tell him, 'Hey, you're not going to be exactly what you want practice one.

"But my challenge to him was continue to fix those issues we're having offensively with urgency," continued the Fighting Irish head coach. "The growth from practice one to practice 15 with our offense (was) tremendous. I've never seen the growth in one group like I saw in our offense this spring. That's a credit to him."

Part of Parker's success is his own knowledge and the things he believes in on offense, but he's also willing to take advantage of the talent and knowledge of the other coaches on the staff.

"It takes a competent person to be able to take opinions from others and truly implement (those ideas)," Freeman explained. "I've sat in that office staff room enough, and you hear Gerad say here's what I want, here's the objective. Here's what I want our offense to be, and then he takes opinions from Gino Guidugli, he takes opinions from Joe Rudolph, who both have been offensive coordinators. 

"Everybody gives opinions - Chansi Stuckey and Deland McCullough - but two guys that have been coordinators also give him opinions, and he's able to filter those and say, 'Okay, I like this idea that fits our offense, and here's what we're going to implement to enhance what we've been doing. The enhancements I've seen from really one to 15, I'm telling you it's been really special."

Parker is new to the offensive coordinator role, but he's not new to the Notre Dame coaching staff. He coached All-American tight end Michael Mayer last season, and that familiarity with the system and personnel allowed him to quickly build up the trust of the players, who know what he can do and who he is.

"He has instant respect," Freeman said of Parker's relationship with the players. "He was the guy that would get him together before they would take the field because Tommy (Rees) was in the press box. But his personality man, the kids, one, they like him, but two, they respect him. It didn't take much convincing. 

"You just have to go to the first offensive unit meeting and hear him speak, it was pretty special."

Earning the trust of the staff and players is a key foundational piece to being an effective coordinator, and now Parker and the staff are tasked with building championship caliber results.

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