Northwest’s 2014 football coaching staff is now complete. On Friday, head coach Jack Wright announced the hiring of Benjy Parker, a longtime Troy assistant, as the Rangers’ defensive coordinator.
“I’m excited to be at Northwest and my wife and I are excited about the move,” Parker said. “We had eight wonderful years at Troy. I’ve played and coached in this league before and am excited to be back in it. Northwest has tremendous tradition and I want to help build on that.”
Benjy Parker
The Bruce native comes to Senatobia after eight seasons as an assistant coach at Troy University, one with the secondary and seven coaching the linebackers. Parker is well-known in the Mississippi Junior College ranks and proved to be beneficial in recruiting that area for the Trojans and will again be successful at Northwest.
Troy won five consecutive Sun Belt Championships and posted five consecutive 8-win seasons from 2006-10. The Trojans also played in four bowl games in his eight seasons, including winning the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl twice, 41-17 over Rice in 2006 and 48-21 over Ohio in 2010.
?Under his guidance, Kanorris Davis earned a pair of All-Sun Belt honors during his time as a Trojan linebacker and went on to sign a free agent deal with the New England Patriots following the 2012 season.
In 2011, the trio of Xavier Lamb, Brannon Bryan and Davis combined for 230 tackles. Lamb’s 88 tackles were the second-most by a Trojan in 2011, while Bryan, in his first full season as a starter recorded 82 stops. Davis was named to the 2011 Preseason Pony Express Award List after he made 60 tackles, including four tackles-for-loss, in 2010.
The 2010 linebacker corps featured Lamb and Daniel Sheffield who led the Trojans in tackles. Lamb recorded 91 total tackles, with 45 of those coming solo; while Sheffield picked up 78, with 44 solo tackles. The duo combined for 13 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, all while breaking up eight passes, recording an interception and recovering four fumbles.
Parker’s 2009 linebacker unit featured three players (Boris Lee – Chiefs, David McDowell – Rams and Bear Woods – Falcons) that attended NFL training camps in 2010. The three combined for 314 tackles and 39 tackles for loss.
In 2008, Parker was part of a defense that ranked in the top 35 in several categories, including pass defense (23rd), total defense (30th) and scoring defense (31st). They also ranked 17th in the nation in pass efficiency defense (104.03).
He also coached three All-Sun Belt Conference selections at linebacker during the 2008 season in Lee, Woods and Terence Moore. The trio combined for 310 total tackles and were three of the top four tacklers on the team. The trio also combined for 21.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, eight interceptions, nine pass break-ups and seven quarterback hurries.
Prior to his stint at Troy, Parker served as the defensive coordinator at Northeast Mississippi Community College for two seasons (2004-05). At Northeast, Parker helped turn the Tigers into a national powerhouse, and in his final season, the Tigers were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation and finished with a 7-2 overall record.
Prior to his two successful seasons at Northeast Mississippi, Parker spent five seasons as linebackers coach at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan. He coached four NJCAA All-Americans at Butler and helped the Grizzlies to the 2003 NJCAA National Championship.
Parker’s other coaching experience includes a season as a grad assistant at Louisiana-Monroe in 2000 and two seasons at Jones County Junior College where he helped the Bobcats to a perfect 12-0 record during the 1998 season. That year, his team also won the national championship.
Parker played at Itawamba Community College (1996-97), later earned his bachelor’s in exercise science from the University of Mississippi in 1998 and finished his master’s degree in education at William Carey in 2000.
Parker is married to the former Emily Moore of Calhoun County and the couple has one daughter, Mary Hasting.