Photo Credit: Wakan Foundation for the Arts

M-A's legendary Coach Parks supporting the Bears at a football game

Everyone knows Coach Parks as the authoritative ex-football coach who shows up at rallies to shout “STICK!” at hordes of stunned freshmen, but almost nobody knows why he’s actually famous.
Coach Parks arrived at M-A during a tumultuous time, the summer of 1968. The race-related riots of 1967 had led to the departure of almost a third of the teaching staff from M-A. Those who were left on campus had to struggle to maintain a sense of community and togetherness despite the intense atmosphere of racial tension. It was during this time that Coach Parks became a major force in bringing the M-A community together and keeping everyone in it safe.

Although Parks’s focus was indeed centered around his sports, particularly football and wrestling, his presence became a necessary one on campus because of his high moral standards and discipline.
“He had a very high set of moral, ethical, and behavioral standards he held everyone to,” not just those on his sports teams, says retired M-A history teacher Richard Weaver, an opinion that was echoed by current PE teacher Pam Wimberly.
Parks taught P.E. and Adaptive P.E. (for people with physical disabilities) and coached some of the most successful football and wrestling teams in M-A history. He even helped rehabilitate a student who lost both his legs in a plane crash. More recently, Parks led student detentions and remains an asset to the school as an occasional substitute teacher.
Coach Parks’s dedication to physical excellence is exemplified by his commitment to running his age in miles once a year, on his birthday (until he turned 63 years old). When it rained, he ran inside; he made no excuses and expected no praise for his accomplishments.
He was “a great teacher, a physical educator, and an amazing human being,” said Wimberly, perfectly encapsulating his time at M-A.