University of Arizona Athletics

Year in College Athletics: 15th

Year at Arizona: Sixth

Mike Parrish is in his sixth season with Arizona football and fifteenth overall with Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez. He began his stint with the Wildcats as Director of Football Operations in December 2011 and was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director for Football in 2013.

In his current role, Parrish oversees day-to-day operations of the football program and serves as the program’s liaison to the administration, academic support, facility and game operations staff, medical staff as well as the Department of Athletics’ external operations units. Parrish is also responsible for managing the football budget and coordinating team travel and bowl game operations. He also assists in the non-conference game scheduling process. Since the staff’s arrival in Tucson prior to the 2012 season, the football program has added non-conference matchups with at least one school from each Power Five conference as well as BYU. Fan friendly regional matchups have also been scheduled with UTEP, University of Hawaii, San Diego State and Colorado State during that time period. Parrish has also worked with various campus groups at the University of Arizona during his tenure.

Previously, Parrish served as Rodriguez’s Director of Football Operations at the University of Michigan in 2010 and was an operations assistant in Ann Arbor for the first two years of Rodriguez’s tenure (2008-09). During his first two years in Ann Arbor, Parrish assisted with the organizational aspects of recruiting and served as the program’s liaison to the compliance services office regarding recruiting matters. During his final year, Parrish also served as the program’s liaison to academic support, university admissions, and the compliance services office on all compliance matters. He also assisted with the planning of his fourth Gator Bowl trip.

At West Virginia University, he served as operations graduate assistant in 2006 and 2007 and was an operations student assistant during his undergraduate career. During his time at WVU, Parrish assisted with day-to-day operations of the football program, recruiting operations, summer camp operations and preparations for three Gator Bowls, one Sugar Bowl and one Fiesta Bowl. Additionally, he was an intern with Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia Agency in New Rochelle, N.Y. in 2005 and the Harrisburg Senators minor league baseball franchise during the summers of 2003 and 2004.

Parrish has been an active member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) since 2006. He currently serves as the third Vice President for the National Football Operations Committee and as a member of the College Football Playoff Advisory Group. In 2015, Parrish was named as a finalist for Football Scoop’s National Director of Football Operations of the Year award.
 
A native of Hershey, Pa., Parrish earned two bachelors’ degrees in Business Administration (2006) and a master’s in Sport Management (2008) from West Virginia University. Parrish and his wife, Lauren, were married in July 2014, and they have one son, Grayson, who was born in 2016.