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Notre Dame Football: Marcus Freeman denies Gerad Parker replacement hunt

By Oliver Vandervoort

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and Notre Dame's Holden Staes during Notre Dame Fall Camp on Friday, July 28, 2023, at Irish Athletics Center in South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and Notre Dame's Holden Staes during Notre Dame Fall Camp on Friday, July 28, 2023, at Irish Athletics Center in South Bend, Indiana. /
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Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman claimed that reports the Irish were talking to an OC candidate on the down low were false.

Now that the Fighting Irish’s regular season is over, fans and members of the team alike have started thinking about the offseason and eventually, next season. Among the hottest topics of conversation over the last month has been whether or not offensive coordinator Gerad Parker should be retained after his sole season at the helm in South Bend.

Those discussions ramped up considerably on Sunday night when a report out of Arkansas Razorbacks country stated that the Notre Dame football team was actively looking for Parker’s replacement.

Jacob Davis took to social media to claim that Notre Dame was among several other schools that are trying to lure UNLV offensive coordinator to their programs. Davis claimed that, the Irish, Oklahoma and Penn State, “have inquired about the current UNLV OC’s services for respective OC openings.”

In hindsight, perhaps that should have been the first clue that Davis’ reporting was off. Notre Dame football does not have an opening at offensive coordinator. Both Penn State and Oklahoma do. The Nittany Lions fired Mike Yurcich, their OC with a week to go in the regular season. The Sooners’ offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby just took the head coaching job with Mississippi State.

Notre Dame football plans on keeping Gerad Parker around

On Monday, head coach Marcus Freeman threw cold water on any hopes that the report that Parker was being replaced might be true. He went so far as to say that he has no idea who Brennan Marion is and certainly never met with him about a position on his staff.

Freeman ended that portion of his press conference by saying that if it were up to him, every member of his staff would be back in 2024.

That comment was clearly aimed at Parker, but it as also rather obviously a nod towards Notre Dame football defensive coordinator Al Golden, who has been mentioned several times as the 2023 coaching carousel started spinning.

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