The Kansas University football program’s overhaul of its coaching staff continued Monday, when KU coach Charlie Weis announced the addition of Bernie Parmalee to the staff as a quality control coach for special teams.
Parmalee, a former NFL running back and the father of current KU wide receiver Tre’ Parmalee, worked under Weis at Notre Dame from 2005-09 and most recently served as the tight ends coach with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2010-12, working one season under Weis, who served as KC’s offensive coordinator in 2010.
“I am very happy to add Bernie to our staff,” Weis said in a press release. “He worked with me for six years and did a great job. I’m sure he will be a valuable asset to our program.”
Although Parmalee will work closely with KU’s special teams and bring vast knowledge of the unit to the program, the Jayhawks are expected to maintain a similar set-up to the one they had last season, when many of Weis’ nine full-time assistant coaches are in charge of a particular area of the special teams in addition to their roles with their positions.
Before working at Notre Dame, Parmalee, who enjoyed a nine-year NFL career with Miami and the New York Jets, spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins, serving as the tight ends coach (2004), the assistant special teams coach/offensive assistant (2003) and assistant special teams coach (2002).
In other staff news Monday, Weis announced that graduate assistant Kaeman Mitchell (son of KU assistant coach Reggie Mitchell) will shift from working with the Jayhawk special teams to the offensive side of the ball. Mitchell will replace former KU letterwinner, Kale Pick, who recently left his graduate assistant position at Kansas for a similar role at Texas A&M.
The addition of Parmalee is the third major change to the coaching staff this offseason. In December, Weis hired John Reagan to be his offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Reagan, a former KU assistant under Mark Mangino, was brought on board to replace Tim Grunhard, who stepped down as O-Line coach after the 2013 season.
Last week, Weis announced the addition of former Washington offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau as the program’s wide receivers coach. Kiesau, who has experience at Cal, Colorado and Washington, among other stops, takes over for Rob Ianello, who was reassigned to an administrative role.
The Jayhawks, new coaches and all, will open spring practices on March 4. Spring drills will wrap up with the annual spring game, which has been set for 1 p.m. on April 12.
