Today’s interviewee is Chris Parker of Parker Resources, a consulting company for coaches and athletic directors. Parker is a former football coach at Chapel Hill and Pickens. He works for 92.9 The Game’s “High School Football Scoreboard Show” on Friday nights and will be doing radio color commentating for the first time Saturday at the Corky Kell Classic for the Mill Creek-Walton and Grayson-Marietta games. Parker’s full-time job is director of human resources for Pickens County Schools.
Chris Parker, Parker Resources founder
1. It’s hard to give you a title because you have your hand in so many aspects of high school football after hanging up your coach’s whistle. How did you get your newest opportunity, that of color commentating games for the radio broadcasts of the Corky Kell Classic, and how are you preparing? “I got the opportunity from the work that Sam Crenshaw and I do on the “High School Scoreboard Show” from 7 p.m. to midnight each Friday night on 92.9 during the season. The show was a big hit last year. We have our crew at games all around the metro area while Sam and I are in the studio. The station manager, Mike Conti, has been great to us and really wants us to continue to grow, so he worked with Score Atlanta to get the radio broadcast. Since this is new for me, I have a lot to learn. I don’t think I will have much problem talking about football, but I’m going to have to study more on the college prospects on each team, the depth charts and some of the backstories for all four of our teams. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity. I love to highlight the great things coaches are doing in Georgia high school football, and this will be a new way I can do that.”
2. Your part-time jobs include writing books and blogs, doing podcasts, and much more. What part of the career that you’ve made for yourself post-coaching is the most fun or gratifying? “The most gratifying aspect of doing the work I’ve done post-coaching has been to help coaches improve their programs. I have received literally hundreds of messages from coaches the past few years that they used some of the resources through my website, books or podcasts and it helped them. Some have gotten jobs while others have improved various aspects of their programs. I was not prepared for the great feeling you get when this happens. I never saw myself as a ‘coach to coaches,’ but doing this work has been very rewarding for me. I really do love it. I don’t have any real hobbies, so when I am not working at my real job as director of human resources for the Pickens County School District, I do this. While the radio show is really fun, it’s seeing the coaches use some of the resources I have provided to improve that really makes me feel good.”
3. I think you started Parker Resources with an open mind of what coaches might find most useful and adjusted based on the response. What have you learned that perhaps surprised you the most? “Anything I put out on how to get a head coaching job is pretty popular. This is not surprising, but I don’t think many of them realize the real work that goes into being the head football coach. It’s not all about getting Gatorade dumped on you and yelling. There is a lot of work that must be done. The best coaches spend more time working on organization, relationships, communication and innovative ways to improve. I try to adjust my resources now to more ‘tips to improve.’ I put out a ‘100 Football Situations’ book earlier this year and have another book coming out on ‘Tips to Win Games.’
“It has been interesting to see how different football is in various parts of the country. In Georgia, most of our coaches have been exposed to many of the organizational and structural things that I preach over and over. In some states, these ideas may give a team a big advantage. I have worked with coaches from all 50 states and some abroad. It has reinforced my belief that we have some amazing coaches in Georgia that may not always have great records because half the teams must lose each Friday night.”
4. If you could give one piece of advice that would make their jobs easier, what would it be? “The one piece of advice I would give any coach, young or veteran, is to avoid petty problems. Try to see things from others’ point of view and work with people. Think before you act when getting frustrated with a player, parent, coach, band, cheer, admin, etc. There are always battles to pick, but you cannot pick all the battles. I would encourage every coach to find their inner circle, get a mentor and find someone you can talk to. Coaching is a very difficult but rewarding job. That inner circle should probably include a great family support system, a former head coach and/or a successful coach at another school. You need an inner circle to help you pick the necessary battles to succeed.”
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