Troy hired former Penn State football wide receivers coach Gerad Parker to be the Trojans’ next head coach, the program announced Monday. He was Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.

Parker only spent one year in Happy Valley as the wide receivers coach in 2019. The Nittany Lions’ wide receiver room at that time included future league players Jahan Dotson and KJ Hamler. Hamler’s 904 receiving yards ranked sixth in the Big Ten, while his eight touchdowns were tied for third. Meanwhile, Dotson had 488 yards and five touchdowns. Both players were among Sean Clifford’s top targets alongside tight end Pat Freiermuth.

Parker also made stops at UT Martin, Kentucky, Marshall, Cincinnati, Duke, West Virginia, and Purdue, where he was an interim head coach in 2016. He became the tight ends coach in South Bend in 2022 and was promoted to offensive coordinator when Tommy Rees took the same job at Alabama.

Parker improved Notre Dame’s offense significantly in 2023. The Fighting Irish scored 38.6 points per game and 5,151 total yards compared to 31.8 and 5,148 in 2022. Sam Hartman thrived at quarterback with 2,689 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. Audric Estime rushed for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns, while Chris Tyree and Mitchell Evans both eclipsed 400 receiving yards.

Parker will replace Jon Sumrall, who recently bolted for Tulane’s head coaching vacancy. Sumrall went 23-4 in two seasons at Troy, featuring an 11-2 record and 8-1 conference record en route to a Sun Belt championship.