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Penn State hires Gerad Parker to be new wide receivers coach

Of his 12 seasons as a college coach, Parker has spent seven of them coaching wide receivers. He also served as Purdue's interim head coach for the last six weeks of the 2016 season.

Penn State head coach James Franklin celebrates a touchdown with Penn State wide receiver Juwan Johnson (84) during a game at Penn State University's Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018.
Penn State head coach James Franklin celebrates a touchdown with Penn State wide receiver Juwan Johnson (84) during a game at Penn State University's Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer

Gerad Parker, who has spent seven of his 12 seasons of coaching college football as a wide receivers coach, has been named the new wide receivers coach at Penn State, the program announced Thursday.

Parker, who played his college football at Kentucky, spent the last two seasons on the Duke coaching staff, where he was wide receivers coach in 2018. One of his players, T.J. Rahming, caught 75 passes for 811 yards and eight touchdowns and was named second-team All-ACC.

Before going to Duke, Parker was an assistant coach at Purdue from 2013 through 2016, serving as wide receivers coach the final two years. He also was the Boilermakers’ interim head coach for the final six weeks of the 2016 season.

“We are excited to add Gerad to our staff,” Franklin said in a statement. “He has a comprehensive background and knows the Big Ten. He is a terrific fit for our staff, university and community. He has a great opportunity to come in and make a significant impact both on and off the field with a very talented position group.”

Parker said he was “extremely humbled and honored” to be coming to Penn State.

“We as a family are certainly very excited to be a part of a place that has been built with such a passion for football and with such a storied history,” he said.

Parker also coached wide receivers at Marshall and at UT-Martin. At Penn State, he replaces David Corley, who was fired the day after the Nittany Lions' 27-24 loss to Kentucky in the Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl.