By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University Head Football Coach Isaac Parker has been chosen to be a speaker at this year's NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy. Parker will be featured during the Past Participant Panel. The Coaches Academy is scheduled to be held virtually on Friday, June 18 and Saturday, June 19. Parker is about to enter his third year as the head coach of the Bearcats. He played football at Willamette from 1998 through 2002 and graduated in the winter of 2002. He added a Master of Arts in Teaching from Willamette in 2005.
The NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy provides current, full-time college football coaches at NCAA member schools an opportunity to build connections and develop leadership skills to pursue their career aspirations. Coaches at the academy can engage with industry experts and peers on a variety of topics to enhance their abilities to be effective coaches and leaders of student-athletes on and off the field.
At this year's Coaches Academy, the Past Participant Panel will feature Parker and other former participants who have moved into head coaching positions or have elevated their positions following attendance at a previous Coaches Academy. They will share their experiences implementing what they learned at the academy. They will discuss the transition to a head coaching role, how they prepared for the opportunity, and how they built a culture within their teams. The panel will feature current college coaches and NFL coaches.
Parker attended the NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy in Tampa, Florida, in February of 2017 after the second of his four years as an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark College. Parker was hired as Willamette's head coach in December of 2018. While attending the academy, he met Buster Davis, former Florida State University athlete and NFL player, who served as Willamette's defensive coordinator during Parker's first season as head coach in 2019.
As a participant in the Coaches Academy in 2017, Parker learned several factors that are important to expanding your role and being promoted to higher positions.
"The main thoughts that have stuck with me are ... Surround yourself with great people," Parker said. "They must be also good at coaching, recruiting, have positive infectious energy, etc.; Define what success means; Manage and lead the change you wish to see. Manage things, lead people; Don't get bored of the mundane. Be consistent in doing right and doing the little things the right way."
With those areas of importance in mind, Parker returned to L&C, where he had been promoted from offensive coordinator prior to the 2017 season. During the 2018 season, his leadership allowed L&C running backs to rush for 1,292 yards with 143.6 yards per game and 4.88 yards per carry. Less than two years after attending the Coaches Academy, Parker became the head coach at Willamette.
Parker applied what he learned at the Coaches Academy, but didn't necessarily realize immediately just how much impact the academy had on his actions and development as a coach.
"What is interesting is I recently opened my notebook that contained the notes I took from the Coaches Academy," Parker said. "At the time, I was in my third year as a college coach, was about to be in my 1st year as an Offensive Coordinator, and did not have any thoughts or ideas about being a college head coach at the time. However, I was pleased to see that I had enough forward-thinking where now, when I read my notes, there are things that stand out to me that didn't seem relevant when I was at the Academy.
"There are many things that I had either learned as a high school head coach, or things that I anticipated would be true about being a college head coach, that were reinforced for me," Parker added. "I like to refer back to many of my notebooks and journals to find inspiration for what we do. One anecdote that I found is that since being at Willamette, we've been talking a lot about the 'Trust Bucket,' which is our analogy for building and keeping trust among our community. This is trust in each other, and it is a reminder for coaches to build trust in our players, and also is a reminder for our football program to build trust in other people in the Willamette community. In my Academy notebook, I had notes talking about how trust is earned and collected slowly, but can be lost in a moment. In the margins of my notepad, it says 'Trust Bucket - one drop at a time - we must protect the bucket!' It is awesome that now our current players will refer to the 'Trust Bucket' as a common part of our language within the culture of our program."
According to Parker, being hired as the head coach at Willamette was very meaningful to him. It has become a great job for him.
"The bottom line is I love Willamette University. I love the school, I love our football program, I love our coaches, I love our players, I love our Willamette and Salem communities, and I love that I get to do what I love -- coaching football. At the end of the day, I love my job and try to do things the right way," Parker said.
Parker has formed friendships throughout his experiences as a coach, including people he met at the NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy. Even so, he didn't expect to be called on as a presenter at this year's academy.
"To be selected as a speaker is somewhat of a surprise to me, honestly, but it is also an honor to be able to represent Willamette University as an alumnus and as our head football coach," Parker commented. "I am excited to share how helpful this experience was for me with these current participants because the amount of information you get in that short amount of time is not easily processed and immediately applicable. If I can encourage them to take notes and revisit them like I've been able to, that could help them get the most out of this experience.
"Also, I remember one guest speaker was from a hiring company that many SEC and power five schools use to hire their head coaches. I know Willamette's scale is much smaller, but they gave the advice of treating all people on campus well. For me, that was cool to find out. One of the reasons I was given the opportunity to be hired at Willamette was because of some of the recommendations from people on campus that were not tied to athletics. To think that how I treated people on this campus over 15 years ago contributed to me being considered for this job is a surreal thought process. It goes to show, you never know who is watching and listening to you and paying attention to who you are and what you say or do."
In preparing for this year's Past Participant Panel at the Coaches Academy, Parker has looked back at even more of his notes from 2017. He has found several things that he wants to emphasize this year to the new group of participants. His key recommendations for coaches include:
- Be yourself, be transparent, and do the invisible work well. How do you stand out? Dare to be different.
- It's not a resume business, it's a relationship business. Connect with people at a genuine level.
- Don't let your talent take you somewhere that your character can't keep you.
- Get out of your comfort zone to network. It's up to you to be known ... who you are and what you can do.
- The 90-day rule ... quarterly contact.
- What is your "It" factor? What makes you special? Why are you a coach?
- Have someone in your corner that will tell you the truth, be a moral compass, see blind spots or holes in your philosophy. Find areas for growth.
"Generally, what I'm proud of with this experience is that I was chosen to participate in this program because I applied," Parker noted. "I think it's important for young coaches, and really coaches of all ages, to take control of their development and look for ways to improve. Apply to programs, make phone calls, and not be afraid to ask. Be diligent and intentional about developing yourself, learning, and expanding your knowledge and understanding. In a lot of ways, we must practice what we preach, and continually finding ways to improve and get better is one of the things we have to do in this profession. I see and meet so many coaches who get stagnant in their approach to development. It doesn't take much time to turn in an application and try to get into programs and participate in activities. I hope that the experiences I've found for my personal development can help others be bold and confident and try to find ways to improve as well."
Parker began his teaching and coaching career at South Salem High School, where he coached football, baseball and golf. During his time with the South Salem football team, he served as the Saxons' offensive coordinator and guided the team to several school records for rushing and scoring. In 2008, he helped South Salem win the Central Valley Conference title and he was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
In 2012, he was hired as the head football coach at McNary High School in Keizer, Oregon. Parker led a quick turn-around of McNary's football program, leading the Celtics to the OSAA Playoffs during each of his three seasons from 2012 through 2014. During the 2013-14 academic year, Parker was named the Virtue First Coach of the Year for his commitment to excellence in developing the character of his players.
