College Football

Troy to hire Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker as head coach

Published Dec. 18, 2023 1:46 p.m. ET

Troy is hiring Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker to be its next head coach, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a deal was still being finalized.

Parker, 42, will replace Jon Sumrall, who left Troy earlier this month after two successful seasons to become head coach at Tulane.

Parker will be a first-time head coach after spending two seasons at Notre Dame, the last as offensive coordinator. Parker, who played at Kentucky, has also been an assistant at West Virginia, Penn State, Duke, Cincinnati and Purdue.

He was interim head coach at Purdue at the end of the 2016 season, in which Darrell Hazell was fired.

After a season as offensive coordinator and receivers coach at West Virginia, he joined Notre Dame in 2022 as tight ends coach for Marcus Freeman.

He was promoted to offensive coordinator and this past season the Fighting Irish ranked ninth in the country in yards per play at 6.95.

Troy won consecutive Sun Belt titles under Sumrall and is playing in the Birmingham Bowl against Duke on Saturday (12 p.m. ET).