Gerad Parker squared up Holden Staes on opening day of Notre Dame spring football as much as he coached him. The freshman tight end wasn’t getting his hands enough inside on a blocking drill, so Parker exaggerated the motion, taking an inch and presenting it as a mile. Parker stretched his arms wide, as if to bear hug Staes. Don’t do that. Then he kept his arms tight and fired his fists toward Staes’ chest. Do this.

This is how Parker works Notre Dame’s tight ends, showing and telling to make his point. In meetings, Parker will get into stances and demonstrate the steps to begin routes. When he talks about bringing hips into blocking, Parker thrusts his own while blocking office furniture. During stretching drills before practice, Parker will drop down and do pushups. When players do conditioning runs, Parker will jog alongside, even if he’s not exactly keeping up.

“He thinks he can,” Staes said. “He stays in shape. He lifts with us sometimes. He runs, all that stuff. He’s good.”

To play for Parker is to play with Parker, depending on the time and place. Notre Dame’s new offensive coordinator is old-school, just not in the vein-bulging, do-your-bleeping-job kind of way. It’s more blue-collar than blue blood, fitting a coach from Louisa, Ky., just over the West Virginia line where the Big Sandy River forms. If the accent of Parker’s hometown twangs when he speaks, it’s felt when he coaches.

Notre Dame’s tight ends already knew that after a year of learning from the former Kentucky wide receiver who wasn’t shy about what he didn’t know. Parker arrived at Notre Dame with just two seasons of experience coaching the position, almost a decade earlier at Purdue. Before setting up his office, he polled Notre Dame’s tight ends on their prior knowledge. Then he kept it simple, an approach that proved to be more feature than bug.