by Malcolm Butler
New Cedar Creek head football coach William Parkerson has completed compiling his coaching staff for the upcoming 2023 season.
With summer workouts underway, Parkerson — who was hired to replace the departed Matt Middleton in late April — has added some important pieces to the Cougars coaching puzzle, including former Creek stars KJ Malone and Tripp Marcus.
Long-time and highly-successful defensive coordinator Mark Ware returns for another year on the Creek sideline and will coach linebackers.
Parkerson knows the importance of keeping the veteran coach.
“Extremely beneficial,” said Parkerson. “He has coached in the (Superdome) like 14 times. He will forget more football than a lot of people will ever know. He has a philosophy that the kids believe in, and they know it. He is a good guy. He possesses all the qualities of a good coach.”
Jacob Angevine and Bryce Meche also return for another year. Angevine will coach the defensive line and serve as the head junior high coach while Meche will coach wide receivers on the varsity level and help with the junior high.
Malone and Marcus will play an important role for Parkerson. Malone, who starred at LSU following his playing days at Creek, will serve as the co-offensive line coach. Marcus, who lettered at Louisiana Tech in track and field, will coach running backs and defensive backs.
Both Malone and Marcus played for Parkerson during his time as an assistant at Cedar Creek, something that the first-year Cougars boss feels will be really important.
“It’s nice to have some former players who played when I was here (as an assistant coach) so they an relate to the current players,” said Parkerson. “They can say (to the current players), ‘Hey, I know what he is saying. I’ve been here and I’ve done that.’ Plus they were really good players that our current kids will all remember. So what they say will carry some weight.
“Our current players were little kids when KJ and Tripp were here and so hopefully it will bring back memories of good times when Cedar Creek was successful.”
Malone said he is excited about the opportunity.
“I love being back in the Green and Gold,” said Malone. “Cedar creek has always been a home for me. Once I heard about Coach P coming back it got me fired up! I always wanted to come back and coach at Cedar Creek, but coach P coming back definitely boosted that. I am just blessed to have gotten the opportunity to come back and coach at this great school. Only God knows the right timing and this was his timing for me.”
As Parkerson begins to instill his philosophy and culture into the Cougars program, he feels Marcus could really prove valuable on the mental side with the players.
“I was as close to Tripp as anybody,” said Parkerson. “I coached him in both football and track and field. He has seen me high, low and everywhere in between. He reads me really well. He read me well when he was a player. He will be really good on the mental stuff. He has experienced the full gamut of William Parkerson the coach.”
River Gross will serve as the co-offensive line coach while Jordan Shaffer will work with the Cougars slot receivers and linebackers while also helping with the Creek baseball program.
Parkerson said he would handle the Cedar Creek quarterbacks and serve as the offensive coordinator.
