Notre Dame opens season against Navy with pressure on offensive coordinator Gerad Parker
Now that’s how to run a hurry-up offense.
Get in and go right to work. Keep it moving. Waste no time. Set the tempo and see it through and before you know it, you’ve accomplished what you wanted and are on to what’s next.
Such was the case earlier this week for Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, but it had nothing to do with passes or completions, run-pass options, first downs, touchdowns, call sheets or anything else football.
It had everything to do with Parker fulfilling his weekly media obligation mandated by head coach Marcus Freeman, whose predecessor would never, ever, ever let his coordinators get within 5 yards of a media microphone before, during or after a season.
Freeman’s different. He allows his coordinators to coordinate. He wants them to put a face and a voice behind their X’s and O’s. He encourages them to be accountable and transparent and all that good stand-up stuff, so up the Irish Athletic Center stairs climbed Parker, who marched to his designated interview spot Tuesday after practice like a man with much on his mind.
Watch him closely and you could see the coordinator wheels still turning, thoughts of short-yardage calls, exotics and standard stuff still bouncing around his brain.
Parker stayed long enough for what would pass as a short drive. Five questions. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, all knocked out in a crisp three minutes and 47 seconds. No time for small talk in a different/hectic/weird week for No. 13 Notre Dame in the lead-up to Saturday’s opener against Navy in Dublin, Ireland.
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Freeman admitted in a week that also included an overnight transatlantic flight that Monday was like a Tuesday and Tuesday was like a Thursday, which meant everything was accelerated. The week, like Parker’s answers, moved fast. Parker had no time to sit and shoot the you-know-what with the you-know-whats.
If the Irish offense is as efficient in their drives as Parker was with the media, Saturday should be a fun day for Notre Dame.
This we know about the 42-year-old Parker — he’s got an edge. He’s got passion. He loves this game and his job. What we don’t know and what we still need to know is, who Gerad Parker is as an offensive coordinator at Notre Dame?
Who is he?
Can he stick to his script, and what does that script look like? Can he go off script, and what does that look like? Can he get this offense rolling? Starting Saturday, we’re about to find out as he assumes play-calling duties for a unit that better be better than last year’s final numbers for total offense (59th nationally), rush offense (35th), pass offense (97th) and scoring offense (41st).
Add up those key offensive categories, divide by four and you get 58. How does that compare to the teams that made the 2022 College Football Playoff? Purely pedestrian. Michigan averaged 29.2 in those four statistical categories. TCU was at 26.2, Ohio State 14 and Georgia 11.
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Asked what he has to see Saturday to believe this offense is pointed toward special, Parker admitted that he could throw out a host of numbers. A bunch of first downs. Rush yards in big chunks. A plethora of pass plays and plenty of points on the scoreboard. That would be a sweet start. But that won’t tell the whole story.
Something simple will.
“The biggest factor in playing good offensive football is taking care of the football first,” Parker said. “If you see a team that’s detailed, takes care of the ball and plays hard, we believe we’ve got good enough players to be able to make our plays go.”
Can these Irish make it go from the jump? We don’t know. This offense will be good, but really good is a way away, say, maybe when Ohio State visits on Sept. 23. That’s when we should (have to) see this Notre Dame offense at its maximum ability with Sam Hartman making the throws and Audric Estime churning out the yards and Jayden Thomas and friends catching the passes.
Saturday is too soon to see all that, right?
“I’ve said since I was named coordinator, we’re going to play with great detail, meaning make our plays work, no matter the defense,” Parker said. “Just as long as we give our guys a chance to be successful with the plays called.”
As for those plays, Parker eventually will cease the mad scientist-tinkering with his call sheet. There comes a point in a game plan where the plan is the plan. Put it away, trust in yourself, trust in your guys and play. Satisfied? Football coaches aren’t ever that. But sure? Parker will hit a point hours before kickoff when he’s sure.
“You hope by Friday you’ve got a call sheet that you know is done and ready and ripped up for them to look at,” he said. “All of us as coaches would make the mistake of, you’re always looking at it and wondering about stuff and playing the what ifs, which I think is healthy, too.
“At the same time, you’ve got to go with what your guys have repped and what they know.”
His three minutes and change interview window having closed, Parker stood up and stalked back downstairs. Regardless of what happens Saturday, he’s scheduled to return next week in his usual interview slot. Watching him bound down the stairs, you still didn’t know much about Parker the offensive coordinator, but you did know this: life for him will change Saturday. That's the job.
The running joke around the offensive meeting room last season was that Parker had the easiest job on staff. As only the tight ends coach, his biggest challenge seemingly was making sure Michael Mayer got on and off the team bus to the stadium. That was it. Mayer did the rest.
Life’s different now. His role has changed in a big way, and in some ways, so has Parker.
“I’ve been really pleased with the growth of him as a leader, him as a leader of a staff, as a leader of the offense,” Freeman said. “He’s done a tremendous job.”
Other than the head coach, Parker’s job often is the most challenging/scrutinized/second-guessed on this staff. Everything works the way it’s supposed to, Parker will be the brightest mind since the person who invented the smart phone. Everything bogs down and the Irish offense sputters with a few three and outs, and everyone on the outside will fret about him, his playbook, the future.
Welcome to Notre Dame. He wasn’t the first choice for offensive coordinator, but the time’s near to start seeing if Gerad Parker is the right one.
