Former Kansas State Wildcats football coach Stan Parrish dies at age 75
Stan Parrish, a longtime football coach who was in charge of the Kansas State Wildcats from 1986-88, died on Sunday at the age of 75.
He will be remembered by K-State fans as the man who preceded Bill Snyder in Manhattan and guided the Wildcats to a memorable 17-17 tie against the rival Kansas Jayhawks in a 1987 game that was dubbed “The Futility Bowl.”
But he also spent time as a head coach at three other universities (Wabash, Ball State, Marshall) and served as an assistant at Purdue, Rutgers, Michigan and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Along the way, he coached Brian Griese and Tom Brady.
He also helped the Bucs win a Super Bowl in 2002.
Parrish began his college football coaching career at the Division III level, where he led the Wabash Little Giants in 1978. He spent five seasons at the school in Indiana, finishing with an impressive 42-3-1 record that included a perfect 10-0 season in 1982.
That success helped him become the head coach at Marshall, where he went 13-8-1 in two seasons.
Next came a three-year stint with the Wildcats. Things did not go well for Parrish in Manhattan, as K-State went 2-30-1 under his watch. The Wildcats won two games in Parrish’s first season and then went winless over the final two, which paved the way for Snyder to transform K-State from a moribund program into a regular winner.
In 2008, Parrish was hired by Ball State and went 6-19 during two seasons there. He also led Eastern Michigan to a 1-2 mark as interim head coach in 2013.
When he wasn’t a head coach, Parrish focused on the offensive side of the ball. He called plays and coached quarterback at most of his other jobs.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Former Kansas State Wildcats football coach Stan Parrish dies at age 75."