Stanley Paul Parrish Jr. (September 20, 1946 – April 3, 2022) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and player. He was the head coach at

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

from 2009 to 2010. Parrish was previously the head coach at

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832, by a group of Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, the institution was originally named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary an ...

, Kansas State and

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

. He was an

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

at Ball State and the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and had a lengthy career working primarily with quarterbacks. As an assistant coach, Parrish was a member of the 1997 National Champion Michigan Wolverines and Super Bowl XXXVII champion

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Early life

Parrish was born on September 20, 1946, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. He attended Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights, Ohio, and graduated in 1964. Parrish then attended Heidelberg College, where he played football as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

from 1965 to 1968. He graduated in 1969 with a bachelor's degree.

Coaching career

After graduating from Heidelberg, Parrish began his coaching career at Windham High School in Windham, Ohio in 1969. He coached the Bombers first as an assistant, then as head coach. He led the Bombers to their first ever

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

high school football playoff berth in his final year, 1974; only four teams in each division qualified in those early years of the playoffs. In 1975, Parrish joined the staff at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

as a graduate assistant.

Wabash

Parrish had a highly successful 42–3–1 stay as head coach at Division III

from 1979 to 1982, where he coached future NFL player Pete Metzelaars. Parrish was the 29th head coach for the Little Giants, and he held that position for five seasons, from 1978 until 1982. As of the 2007 season, Parrish's record at Wabash is ranked second in winning percentage (.924). While at Wabash, Parrish also coached the tennis team. Parrish is enshrined in the Wabash College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Marshall

In 1984, Parrish was hired as head football coach at

. In two years at Marshall, Parrish helped establish a lasting winning tradition for the school. In 1984, Parrish led Marshall to a 6–5 record, Marshall's first winning season in twenty years and the first since the team's 1970 air disaster. The following year, the Thundering Herd went undefeated at home and earned a #3 NCAA Division I-AA national ranking early in the season before fading to a 7–3–1 record. Partly as a result of the back-to-back winning seasons, plans for a new stadium at Marshall were in place before the next season began. Parrish left Marshall following the 1985 season to take the head coaching job at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

Kansas State

Parrish was not able to repeat his success at Marshall in his three years as head coach of K-State. From 1986 to 1988 Parrish posted a 2–30–1 mark (.076 winning percentage). His last win at Kansas State came on October 26, 1986, over

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

; afterward he went 0–26–1, including K-State's first winless records on the field since 1966. Parrish was fired after the 1988 season, and replaced by Bill Snyder.

Rutgers, Michigan, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After leaving Kansas State, Parrish served as an assistant head coach at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

from 1990 to 1995. For the following six years, he coached at the

, where he served as

in 2000 and 2001. As the quarterbacks coach, he worked with Brian Griese,

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

, and Drew Henson. Parrish helped the 1997 Wolverines to victory in the Rose Bowl and the school's 11th

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. Parrish spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons as the quarterbacks coach of the NFL's

. In 2002, he tutored starting quarterback Brad Johnson, who led Tampa Bay to a 12–4 regular-season record and the first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

title in the franchise's history.

Ball State

After a year away from the game, Parrish was hired by Ball State head coach Brady Hoke as quarterback coach at Ball State. The following season, he was promoted to offensive coordinator. In the 2008 season, Ball State had a historically successful campaign, winning their first 12 games before falling to Buffalo in the MAC championship game. Hoke used this success as a springboard to securing the head coaching job at

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, resigning prior to the team's appearance in the GMAC Bowl. Rather than follow Hoke to San Diego State, Parrish succeeded Hoke at Ball State. This was Parrish's first head coaching position in 20 years. At Ball State, Parrish compiled a 6–19 record, including two losses to FCS schools and a loss to a team who had an 18-game losing streak. He was fired after the 2010 season.

Siena Heights

In April 2011, Parrish was appointed the quarterbacks coach at

Siena Heights University Siena Heights University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic university in Adrian, Michigan, United States. It was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919. History The institution was founded for women in 1919 as St. Joseph's ...

prior to the inaugural season of the school's new football program under head coach Jim Lyall. His role was on a voluntary basis, which allowed him to coach without any recruiting duties.

Eastern Michigan

In January 2013 Parrish was named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

under head coach Ron English for the upcoming season. Stan Parrish was named the interim head coach when English was fired after a 1–8 start to the 2013 season. The Eagles won their first game under Parrish's guidance against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

, but lost the final two games of the season against

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

and

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

Personal life and death

He was married to Ruth Purdy, with whom he had a daughter and son. Parrish died on April 3, 2022, at the age of 75.Former Marshall Coach Stan Parrish dies at 75
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Head coaching record

Note: Parrish served as head coach for Ball State in the 2009 GMAC Bowl after Brady Hoke stepped down. Note: Parrish served as interim head coach for Eastern Michigan after Ron English was fired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parrish, Stan 1946 births 2022 deaths American football defensive backs Ball State Cardinals football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Heidelberg Student Princes football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights football coaches Siena Heights Saints football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Wabash Little Giants football coaches College tennis coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Ohio Players of American football from Cleveland