Kirk Ferentz: Where Does He Rank Among Big Ten Coaches?
By Jeremy Karll
No. 14 – Gerad Parker, Purdue Boilermakers (0-1)
Gerad Parker technically isn’t a head coach, but he’ll represent Purdue as long as he mans the sideline. Darrell Hazell took over a 6-7 team and went just 9-33 in three and a half seasons. He left the Boilermakers a mess for Gerad Parker, who was the wide receivers coach under Hazell.
Parker will try to take an underwhelming roster and prove he has what it takes to turn this program around. He only has five more games, all against teams Purdue will be underdogs against, but it’s more about establishing a new environment and feel around the program than instant success.
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Granted it was only his first week, but he showed a glimmer of hope for Boilermakers’ fans. Purdue held a halftime lead over a top-10 Nebraska team. While Purdue ended up losing 27-14, the players responded well to Parker and didn’t fold like many people expected after changing head coaches halfway through the year.
When it comes down to it, Purdue will have a long list of candidates, which will include Les Miles. Although, Parker has the first stab at the job in the second half of the season.
He’s not going to turn the program around in 2016, and no incoming recruits are his, but showing that he’s capable of leading them and having players respond to his coaching like last week will be important to see. This is his audition, and his team looked strong in the first week.