Bernard Parmalee (born September 16, 1967) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the

running backs coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the

special teams coordinator In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in 2020 and also served as an assistant coach for

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. Parmalee played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

at Ball State, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001, and was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1992. Playing for nine seasons in the NFL, Parmalee also played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Playing career

Parmalee played high school football at Lincoln High School in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and the

from 1992 to 2000. Parmalee's professional opportunity came when he tried out for the

after working for

UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...

. He played seven seasons with the Dolphins (1992–98) in 104 games, scoring fifteen rushing touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns while rushing for 1,959 yards and amassing 1,306 receiving yards. In 1999, he went to the Jets and played two seasons in 30 games with two rushing touchdowns, 220 rushing yards, and 179 receiving yards.

Coaching career

Miami Dolphins

Parmalee coached both

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

s for the

from 2002 to 2004.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Parmalee coached both special teams and tight ends for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009. Irish tight ends did well under Parmalee's tutelage having produced multiple

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

finalists during his tenure (

Anthony Fasano Anthony Joseph Fasano (born April 20, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. Fasano also played for the Kansas City ...

and John Carlson).

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs announced him as their Tight Ends coach on February 1, 2010.

Oakland Raiders

He was hired by the Raiders as their new running backs coach on January 25, 2015. In Parmalee's first season in Oakland,

Latavius Murray Latavius Rashard Murray (born January 18, 1990) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCF Knights football, UCF and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in ...

made the Pro Bowl, running for 1066 yards — the team's first 1000-yard rusher in five years. In Parmalee's second season in Oakland, the Raiders had the league's 6th ranked rushing attack. As

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...

took over as head coach of the Raiders after the 2017 season, Parmalee was ousted with most of the Raiders coaching staff.

Atlanta Falcons

In 2018, Parmalee was hired to be the running backs coach for the Falcons. He coached

Ito Smith Romarius "Ito" Smith (born September 11, 1995) is an American football running back who is a free agent. Smith was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, and played three seasons for the Falcons in the NFL. He ...

in his first season where he tallied four running touchdowns, the most rushing touchdowns by a Falcons rookie since 2002. After working as an offensive assistant and assistant special teams coach to start the 2019 season, he returned to being the running backs coach on November 4. On October 12, 2020, Parmalee was shifted from running backs coach to special teams coordinator, as part of a midseason shakeup of the coaching staff.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 10, 2021, Parmalee was hired by the

as their running backs coach under head coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

. On February 17, 2022, he was retained under new head coach

Doug Pederson Douglas Irvin Pederson (born January 31, 1968) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Pederson spent most of his 13-season playing career as ...

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars profile

Atlanta Falcons profile

Kansas City Chiefs profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parmalee, Bernie 1967 births Living people African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football American football running backs Atlanta Falcons coaches Ball State Cardinals football players Ball State University alumni Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Lincoln High School (New Jersey) alumni Miami Dolphins coaches Miami Dolphins players New York Jets players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Players of American football from Jersey City, New Jersey Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey 21st-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients