Dennis Parker Returns!

[Marty]

Dennis Parker Hired at Brownsville Porter

Former Marshall HEad Coach and University of North Texas Head Coach Dennis Parker has been hired at Brownsville Porter.

The longtime coach comes to Porter after coaching in Mesa, Arizona the past three seasons. Among the Texas stops for Parker include head-coaching positions at San Antonio Edison, Marshall High and Cleburne.

Parker served as athletic director at Keller ISD and Ector County ISD, which included Odessa Permian.

[Mean Green 93-98]

I always thought a lot of Coach Parker as a man, even though his years at UNT were not the best. Wish him well.

[Quoner]

I always thought a lot of Coach Parker as a man

Me too, brother, me too....

[foutsrouts]

Good guy. Glad he's back in Tejas.

[STxEagle95]

Looking foward to seeing him coach again. I was at UNT when he coached and am a Brownsville Porter Alum.

[NT Drummer]

Funny his name should suddenly appear - I was looking at IMDB after talking about "Necessary Roughness" with a co-worker the other day, and stumbled on this:

Dennis Parker .... Prison Guard

I wasn't around Denton when he was coach, so I don't know what he looks like, but why wouldn't it be him? I'm sure FFR can confirm it...

[MeanGreengdub]

I went to school in Keller ISD while Dennis Parker and he did not do a very good job as AD. We were all very happy when he left. Hopefully he can do better at his new job.

[foutsrouts]

Funny his name should suddenly appear - I was looking at IMDB after talking about "Necessary Roughness" with a co-worker the other day, and stumbled on this:

Dennis Parker .... Prison Guard

I wasn't around Denton when he was coach, so I don't know what he looks like, but why wouldn't it be him? I'm sure FFR can confirm it...

Yep. Coach Parker was in the movie.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Funny his name should suddenly appear - I was looking at IMDB after talking about "Necessary Roughness" with a co-worker the other day, and stumbled on this:

Dennis Parker .... Prison Guard

I wasn't around Denton when he was coach, so I don't know what he looks like, but why wouldn't it be him? I'm sure FFR can confirm it...

Is there supposed to be a photo at this link?

I've slept since last time I watched Necessary Roughness, but it seems I remember something about (our) Dennis Parker being in it - maybe he played an opposing coach?

[NTPhiKap99]

Is there supposed to be a photo at this link?

I've slept since last time I watched Necessary Roughness, but it seems I remember something about (our) Dennis Parker being in it - maybe he played an opposing coach?

I may just be me but with my inquisitive nature and insight I'd say he played a prison guard.

[UNT_playmaker]

In my opinon he was the worst football coach at UNT....I was in Denton, while he was here.... He did an awful job.

[NT80]

I may just be me but with my inquisitive nature and insight I'd say he played a prison guard.

In the movie some prisoners come on a bus to Fouts to play a practice game. Coach Parker is the guard first getting off the bus when they arrive.

[FirefightnRick]

Funny his name should suddenly appear - I was looking at IMDB after talking about "Necessary Roughness" with a co-worker the other day, and stumbled on this:

Dennis Parker .... Prison Guard

I wasn't around Denton when he was coach, so I don't know what he looks like, but why wouldn't it be him? I'm sure FFR can confirm it...

It is. They had a lot of fun with him during that scene. Wonderful, class act of a guy. I wish him all the best.

Rick

[STxEagle95]

Well, I have been keeping up with Parker getting the job at Brownsville Porter and it turns out that he was offered the job but he still hasn't accepted. He told the school board that he still wasn't sure and that he had an interview at Texas Lutheran.

[MCMLXXX]

He would be a good fit at TLU.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

--He was in Odessa..?? as athletic director.... I sure don't remember it and I live in Midland and think I can name most of them ... besides the all the ADs I remember have been promoted from within the system. If he was he must have been in and out in a hurry, if he was here..

__________________

--Just checked ... he really was there.. about 1.5 years... Not a super successful period.. resignation left a lot of questions why, unanswered. What the heck is TRN.??? TRS is the "Teacher Retirement System" which concerns educators in Texas.

check the math 52-32 =20 He started teaching at age 20?????

_______________________

_______________________ --on the web

----Parker, 52 and with 32 years in teaching and coaching under his belt, would not go into specifics about his decision, only saying that he is retiring from teaching and administration.

“It’s really semantics. I resign from ECISD, but I retire from TRN (Teachers’ Retirement Network),” Parker said.

----Parker said he would answer all questions about his abrupt resignation —during an interview on the next Coach’s Corner. The reason for that, he said, was because he wanted to tell his story only once, in a setting he was comfortable with, and to get it out without any spin being added to it.

"Odessa newspaper"

Edited January 22, 2007 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[GreenBat]

In my opinon he was the worst football coach at UNT....I was in Denton, while he was here.... He did an awful job.

I had feeling you knew nothing about footbasll, this just just proves it. It was Parker's team with Mitch Maher at QB, Luis Silva at TE and Troy Redwine at WR tha laid the ground work for Matt Simon winning the SLC in his first year. Simon did not recruit a player who was on that championship team. Parker hired a young, inovative QB & RB coach named Todd Dodge to tutor Maher, who is an NT hall of famer.

Did Parker make mistakes? YES.

Did he deserve to be fired after three years? I don't believe so.

Did he call his AD, Craig Helwig, on a lot of Stuff? YES.

Was he the greatest coach in NT history? NO.

Was he replaced by the worst football coach at UNT? I would say HELL YES. Matt Simon did more to destroy the football program at NT then all of the coaches before him combined.

I realize that you said in your opinion, but it is evident you know nothing about the history of NT football.

Edited January 20, 2007 by GreenBat

[UNT_playmaker]

And how bad did we lose to Nebraska that one year....

[GreenBat]

72-0 in his first year.

And your point.

How bad did NT lose to Tulsa in Dickey's eigth year?

[Starchild0224]

It is. They had a lot of fun with him during that scene. Wonderful, class act of a guy. I wish him all the best.

Rick

Never, ever, doubt the Armadillo.

[GreenGonzo]

And how bad did we lose to Nebraska that one year....

At least he had a "respectable" loss to UT.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

At least he had a "respectable" loss to UT.

Geezzzzz.. We are getting desperate for complements.

[TooMean]

Well, looks like he has accepted the Lutheran job...

Parker Hired

[nwtexan]

I wonder how he's going to fair. TLU's football program hasn't been much since Wacker was there. Still, I never liked many of the football players in my years at TLU. ('01-'06)

[untjim1995]

I had feeling you knew nothing about footbasll, this just just proves it. It was Parker's team with Mitch Maher at QB, Luis Silva at TE and Troy Redwine at WR tha laid the ground work for Matt Simon winning the SLC in his first year. Simon did not recruit a player who was on that championship team. Parker hired a young, inovative QB & RB coach named Todd Dodge to tutor Maher, who is an NT hall of famer.

Did Parker make mistakes? YES.

Did he deserve to be fired after three years? I don't believe so.

Did he call his AD, Craig Helwig, on a lot of Stuff? YES.

Was he the greatest coach in NT history? NO.

Was he replaced by the worst football coach at UNT? I would say HELL YES. Matt Simon did more to destroy the football program at NT then all of the coaches before him combined.

I realize that you said in your opinion, but it is evident you know nothing about the history of NT football.

I was a student manager back during both Parker and Simon's time at UNT. I think you are both correct, actually. Parker was a high school coach who believed that high school motivational tactics would work with the college kids. The best example was how he talked at length of how his Marshall team got ready to play Permian when he was there and how he had pep rallies scheduled at certain times and how the team marched into the stadium arm-in-arm. Again, those tactics may have been great with 16-18 year-olds, but most of the guys we spoke with just laughed it off because they would even say it was ridiculous--that's putting it lightly. He could recruit decently as you mentioned with those guys that led us to I-A, but I can think of so many blunders during his time. The biggest one that comes to mind was in a game against Northwestern State in 1992 where he had Mitch spike the ball to stop the clock--on 3rd down. Thus, we were forced to kick a tying field goal with like 25 seconds left. or go for it. We kick the field goal to tie it, then he decides to kick an onsides kick which they recover and end up kicking the game-winning field goal to win that game. I won't even talk about our 72-0 loss at Nevada, which was still I-AA at the time, or any of the other massacres that we suffered against some of the SLC teams we played. His teams either got pounded or lost extremely close games. Either way, he was not a good coach and most of us knew it inside the fieldhouse.

When Simon came in, he gave the team a fresh attitude--that quickly became stale. He worst on-field blunder was at OU when he was screaming to the deep snapper to snap the ball to Toby Gowin int the end zone--except that Toby was standing behind him on te sidelines. Thus the ball gets snapped into the end zone with no one to grab it. Luckiily, the ball made it thru the back of the end zone for a safety. This was how he could just lose it emotionally at just the wrong time. The straw that broke the camel's back was when he tried to keep the DRC writer from knowing about towel-gate at Utah State by having someone in the athletic department drive the writer to the airport in Logan, UT via a longer path because the police were waiting at the airport for the team, he lost ALL credibility with the administration. because the writer still found out the next day and this all became national news. He had some of the worst peoople-skills of any coach at any level that I have dealt with. His own coaches hated him, which is why when he was fired and when Dickey got ram-rodded past everybody, Helwig made Dickey keep those coaches--many of whom stayed for years like Mills, Russell, Leftwich, etc.. Simon's teams weren't competetive with fellow Big West teams or lower BCS teams, but he could get them up for a big game against one of the Texas schools--in part because he knew that could get him a better job, which he almost got at Kansas. As for coaching, we all felt that Simon was a much better coach than Parker, but Parker was 20x the man that Simon was/is. And, in the end, you really need to be both to be a successful head coach in college--which is why you are both right. And, why the university got the right man for the job in Coach Dodge. As I have said often, he and Kragthorpe were miles ahead of any other coach at UNT in terms of being ready to lead people and give them the proper respect and motivation. Todd Dodge will be huge here, even if it isn't for a long period of time.