By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After taking over as Topeka West's interim football coach for the final three games of the 2022 season, Trey Parker knew West is where he wanted to be.
Trey Parker
Now, after waiting out a long hiring and approval process, the former Washburn University standout is ready to go full bore after being approved Thursday night as the Chargers' head coach by the USD 501 school board.
"We're excited,'' said the 28-year-old Parker. "I've had kids asking every single day, "Are you the head coach?' I said, 'I don't know,' but now that it's official when kids ask me I can say, 'Yes I am, so now what are you going to do with that? I'm ready to hit the ground running. Are you going to follow me, are we going to run together?' ''
Parker becomes Topeka West's third head coach in less than a year after former Charger coach Ryan Kelly stepped down last spring and Russell Norton stepped aside just six games into his first season.
Parker, who was Norton's defensive coordinator, stepped in as West's interim coach last season and said that he believes that experience will benefit him moving forward.
"I think one of the biggest things about being a coach is building relationships and I think with that foundation that I was able to build with the kids last year that was a big milestone already that I had above other competitors that wanted the job, just simply because it's hard to build a relationship out of scratch,'' Parker said. "For me to have experience with the kids, that was monumental.''
Parker is also a member of the Topeka West staff, working with the school's JAG (Jobs for America's Graduates) program, and said being on campus on a daily basis has been a big benefit as he tries to build his program.
"Just being in the building every day and seeing the kids, that also helps with recruiting kids to play football,'' Parker said. "The kids see me in the building, we have great relationships, we joke, we laugh.
"We have a great time and already there's been maybe 15, 20 kids that said they're going to play football next year just because they know who I am and they would love to play for me. So being at the school has been great, it's been really big.''
Parker said his short stint last fall running the Topeka West program has helped him prepare for his new position.
"First, it opened my eyes to see what a head coach has to deal with,'' Parker said. "I started getting a bunch of phone calls about smaller issues that needed to be handled and things like that. So that was one main thing that I noticed, but just having the opportunity to run things the way I would like to run them was definitely kind of a practice run for what we're going to go through this year. So those last few weeks definitely helped me out in that aspect and just seeing what is the day in the life of a head coach.''
Topeka West is coming off a 1-8 season and has endured a string of sub-.500 records and Parker said his main goal is to make steady progress.
"One of the biggest things that I believe in personally is you have to build that foundation,'' Parker said. "All those other great programs that you see, they have a solid foundation that they're standing on. Yes, we may have a few talented kids here and there but that's not what wins games.
"It's the discipline, it's the commitment, it's the consistency, and just holding each other accountable on a daily basis. That's what builds the foundation for a successful program.''
Parker said another piority for him, giving West's recent coaching changes, is to provide stability in the program.
"Kids respond better to stability,'' Parker said. "When you're able to give them a stable environment then they begin to conform to that environment and they're willing to do whatever they need to do or whatever you want them to do.
"I'm ready to hit this thing full speed and get this thing going. We're ready to do some big things. It's just going to take time but we're going to do it the right way.''
Former Washburn University standout Trey Parker (right) has been named Topeka West's head football coach. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Parker, a defensive tackle, was a third team all-region pick and a second team all-MIAA pick as a senior helping the Ichabods to the Heart of Texas Bowl championship. Parker recorded 43 tackles with 4.5 for loss for 19 yards and a blocked kick as a senior.
In his four-year career at Washburn he made 39 career starts while collecting 145 tackles with 77 solo stops and adding 18.0 tackles for loss.
Following his Washburn career Parker, a native of Vineland, N.J., received an NFL mini-camp invitation with the then-Oakland Raiders.
