The Most Deserving College Football Award-Winning Coach…Ever

We're officially into awards season in college football. Many trophies will be handed out between now and the end of the college football season. But no one will be as deserving of their trophy as Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Parker was awarded the Frank Broyles Award on Tuesday, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football. While there may be some drama involved in just who will win the other big awards this postseason, Parker's win was a slam dunk. This Iowa football team would have never won 10 games without the stellar defense led by Parker. Period.

Parker came to the University of Iowa when Kirk Ferentz was hired as the head coach back in 1999. Back then it was Norm Parker who was the defensive coordinator with Phil coaching the defensive backs. After Norm retired, Phil took over as the Iowa DC in 2012. He has coached many outstanding Iowa defenses, but none were as important to the overall success of the team as this 2023-24 unit.

With Iowa's offense a liability, Parker's unit had to be damn near perfect every Saturday. And it nearly was. Just look at the statistics. The Gazette points out that this year's Iowa defense was fifth in the nation in total defense. Fourth in scoring defense. Second in the fewest yards allowed per play. What would this Iowa team's record be with just an average defense?

The Gazette reports that Phil Parker becomes the first Iowa assistant coach to ever win the Frank Broyles Award. His predecessor, Norm Parker, was a finalist for the award in 2004 and 2005. Yes, at Iowa, we know defense. And no one does it better than Phil Parker.