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How's this for sudden news? The venerable 66-year-old ball coach is now back in the MAC as the offensive coordinator to Ron English at Eastern Michigan.
As a Division I head coach he is 8-49 for his career, so at his age I think we can close the book on him getting another shot at that position in FBS. But he did produce success as the offensive coordinator at Ball State for three years, and we can't overlook his time coaching quarterbacks for Michigan and as an assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning championships at both places. If you were wondering what he was doing after being let go by BSU in 2010, it was slightly obscure:
2011-12 Siena Heights University Volunteer Assistant Coach/Quarterbacks
If you haven't been following Siena Heights athletics, they're a fledgling NAIA program that began playing a varsity schedule in 2011. When Parrish was fired, he had two years left on his contract, so Ball State was effectively paying him to help out a new program. Good for everybody.
Parrish is replacing Ken Karcher, who was dismissed after four seasons at the position, only one of which had a modicum of success in the MAC, mostly running the ball in 2011. The Eagles scored 21.3 points in the MAC, 11th best, and was 12th in passing yards. As a coach who has worked with some neat college QBs (Brian Griese, Tom Brady, Brad Johnson, Nate Davis), he gets to realize the potential of Tyler Benz, entering his redshirt junior season, work Bronson Hill into a running/passing game, and see what he has in terms of receivers.
This entirely seems like a hire about which EMU fans can be excited.