There are many stories in coaching like Parks Frazier's, but few quite as extreme as his.
Three years ago, Frazier was 23 and essentially homeless, working on Chris Hatcher's Samford staff for little to no money. “I’m not making any money, this living situation is awful, but it’s a freaking blast,” Frazier told a friend named Spencer Phillips who was living in Los Angeles volunteering with a high school team to quit his job, move across the country and work for free with him.
With no income, Frazier was essentially homeless. He'd crash on people's couches or a bare spot on the floor, but when neither of those options were available he'd sleep in his car.
Frazier lasted six months at Samford before taking another low-rung job at Middle Tennessee, then parlayed that into a GA job at Arkansas State.
He was in a staff meeting in Jonesboro when his phone rang. It was new Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich with a job offer.
Phillips, the friend Frazier talked into moving cross-country and starting at Samford, had stayed behind at Samford working closely with Drew Pederson (a quarterback at Samford and the son of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson). Doug Pederson saw Phillips at the Senior Bowl, was impressed and interviewed him for a position and eventually hired Phillips as assistant to the head coach.
When Josh McDaniels backed out of the Colts job and then Eagles OC Reich got it on the second go-round, Phillips recommended Frazier to Reich.
Frazier's title is assistant to the head coach, which makes him a mix of a GA and Hand of the King. He types out the play sheet on Andrew Luck's wristband. He feeds information to Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni on headset. He relays requests to the Colts' equipment staff.
Essentially, the 26-year-old does what Reich tells him to do.
“He’s the first person I go to,” Reich told the Indianapolis Star. “No matter what it’s about. I just think that much of him.”
“He’s just a guy that, like, if he ever makes a mistake – and he rarely does – he’s never going to make it again,” Sirianni said. “He’s got a really good football mind. His work ethic, his attention to detail, his knowledge of defenses. He’s got it.”