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Ex-Purdue interim head coach Gerad Parker arrested for OWI

Gerad Parker served as interim head coach at Purdue for the last six games of the 2016 season.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Gerad Parker served as interim head coach at Purdue for the last six games of the 2016 season.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Gerad Parker, who served as Purdue’s interim head coach in 2016 after the firing of Darrell Hazell, was arrested early Tuesday morning for allegedly driving under the influence.

Per the Lafayette Journal and Courier, the 36-year-old Parker was arrested on a charge of operating a vehicle with a BAC above .08. He was taken into custody and released later Tuesday.

In a statement released on his Twitter account, Parker said he was pulled over after driving the wrong direction down a one-way street.

“Monday night my wife and I took former coworkers and friends to a great meal and fellowship. Without affecting the legal process I will say that I thought I was under the legal limit to drive at 11:30 p.m. on my way home,” Parker wrote.

Parker arrived at Purdue in 2013 on Hazell’s staff, first as tight ends coach and later as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. When Hazell was fired in October, Parker took over for the team’s final six games, all losses.

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Parker was not retained when Jeff Brohm was hired as head coach from Purdue. From there, he landed on Luke Fickell’s staff at Cincinnati as running backs coach. However, Parker resigned from his position on the UC staff last Friday, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. According to ESPN.com, Parker was “in the process of” joining the staff at East Carolina:

Parker was hired by Cincinnati last month as the Bearcats’ running backs coach, but he resigned on Friday with the intention of joining East Carolina’s staff, a source told ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.

Parker had been talking with East Carolina about filling its vacant wide receivers coach position, but he had not been officially hired, another source said. It’s unknown if Parker’s arrest will prohibit him from being hired at East Carolina, a source said.

(Update: 6:25 p.m. – ESPN says Parker will not join the ECU staff)

Before joining the staff at Purdue, Parker served as an assistant at Marshall, UT Martin and Kentucky, his alma mater.

For more Purdue news, visit GoldandBlack.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!