CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Delta State football family lost one of its beloved former coaches on Jan. 4, 2016. Jimmy Dale "Red" Parker, who led a 62-year coaching career at both the high school and collegiate levels, died at age 82 after battling heart disease.
Born on Oct. 26, 1931, in Hampton, Ark., Parker was the son of Floyd and Madelyn Parker. He graduated from Rison High School in 1949 and began his legendary coaching career after graduating from Arkansas A&M College in the spring of 1953.
In the fall of 1953, Parker landed his first head coaching job as the head football coach at Fordyce High School, where he spent eight years. During the last three years of his tenure, he led Fordyce to a 36-0 record.
His success as a high school coach carried him to the collegiate level. He began his collegiate career in coaching football at his alma mater, Arkansas A&M College. He coached at Arkansas A&M from 1961-1965. The following year, he became the football coach at The Citadel (1966-1972) where he was 39-34. In 1973, he became the football coach at Clemson University. He coached four seasons at Clemson leading the Tigers to a 17-25-2 record, before taking a three-year hiatus from coaching football.
His love of the game soon brought him back to the sidelines, though, and Parker returned to coaching in 1980 as the offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt University. After one season at Vanderbilt, Parker moved back to his home state to be head coach at Southern Arkansas University in 1981.
Beginning in 1982, Parker made his mark on Mississippi-football in the rich athletic environment of the Mississippi Delta, where he spent six years coaching the Statesmen football program at Delta State University. During Parker's tenure (1982-1987), the Statesmen were 34-26-4 overall with a 21-22-4 record in the Gulf South Conference. Parker had a .567 winning percentage and coached some of the greatest Statesmen to play the game. Delta State had 28 All-GSC honorees during his six-year career. Quarterback Scott Buttler was Delta State's first two-time GSC Offensive Player of the Year, earning the honor in 1983 and 1984. Parker also coached All-American wide receiver Kyle Finney (1984) and All-American defensive lineman Karl Balls (1986).
Parker went on to be the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss for four years (1988-1991), but returned to high school coaching from 1993-1995. Parker coached Rison High School for three seasons, but his last season was one of the most memorable.
His success brought him back to the collegiate level. In 1996, he coached the football team Ouachita Baptist University its first three years of Division II football.
Parker remained at OBU for three seasons, but stepped back from college football for good after 1999 and dedicated the rest of his life to coaching high school football. He coached four years at Bearden (1999-2002) and four years at Fordyce (2003-2006). Although Parker retired from coaching in 2006, he came out of retirement in 2008. He led the football program at Woodlawn High School, before taking on the challenge of building a football program at Harmony Grove High School in Haskell in 2009.
Parker officially resigned from coaching following the 2015 season with Harmony Grove, marking the end to his 62-year legendary career. Throughout his career he was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year, to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Citadel Sports Hall of Fame, Arkansas Sportswriters Hall of Fame, Dallas County Sports Hall of Fame, and the Coleman Dairy KATV Coach of the Year.
Funeral services were held at Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark. Parker was buried at Pinecrest Memorial Park in Alexander, Ark.
He is survived by two daughters, Vicki Wallace and Cindy Yoos (Herman); son, Jim Mack Parker (Robin); six grandchildren: Matthew Wallace, Julie Hollis, Lance Parker, Kristi Kendrick (Devin), Drew Yoos (Sara), and Elizabeth McKenna (Marc); and six great grandchildren, Taylor Wallace, Maddie Hollis, Parker Hollis, Anna Grace Hollis, Ella Parker, and Carter Kendrick.
Donations can be made to the Baptist Health Heart Transplant and VAD Institute, 9500 Kanis Rd. Suite 410, Little Rock, AR 72205, Fordyce Redbug Alumni Foundation, P.O. Box 57, Fordyce, AR 71742, or the Harmony Grove Football Program - Red Parker Memorial, 2621 Hwy. 229, Benton, AR 72015.
