The Boilermakers and coach Hazell have a new Tight Ends coach and Recruiting Coordinator on the same day that the Big Ten fired back at the NCAA for the upcoming rules in recruiting. Gerad Parker already coached a game in Ross-Ade this past season as he was the previous wide receivers coach at Marshall.
Parker played at Kentucky from 2001-04, where he was twice on the SEC Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and was Kentucky's Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2004. The past two seasons he has coached a prolific passing offense that scored over 40 points per game and had 4300+ yards passing. Receiver Tommy Shuler had 110 catches for 1,138 yards and six TDs this year, while Antavious Wilson had nine touchdowns.
As recruiting coordinator he'll face these challenges, as stated in this release from the Big Ten:
Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Football Coaches and Athletic Directors met today in Park Ridge for a regularly scheduled meeting and subsequently issued the following statement with regard to pending NCAA DI legislation impacting college football:
We reviewed the 26 Rules Working Group proposals acted upon by the NCAA Board of Directors in January, some of which will become effective as early as July 1, 2013. While we applaud the work that has been done to date, we are very concerned that the timeline proposed for implementation of the proposals does not allow sufficient time for the Football Recruiting Subcommittee of the NCAA Leadership Council to thoughtfully consider the impact of the proposals.
We are specifically concerned with the following three proposals and ask that they be tabled along with Proposal 13-2:
Proposal 11-2: Athletics Personnel - Limitations on the Number and Duties of Coaches - Elimination of Recruiting Coordination Functions
Proposal 13-3: Recruiting - Deregulation of Modes and Numerical Limitations on Communication
Proposal 13-5-A: Recruiting - Elimination of Printed Recruiting Materials and Video/Audio Legislation
We have serious concerns whether these proposals, as currently written, are in the best interest of high school student-athletes, their families and their coaches. We are also concerned about the adverse effect they would have on college coaches, administrators and university resources.
We look forward to working with the NCAA toward improving the game, the recruiting process and the overall college football experience for all student-athletes.
So, stay tuned. With a class that was not in the top 50 the Boilers are going to need to improve to be competitive. That will be Parker's bigger role.