Benjy Parker, the 2017 MACJC North Division Coach of the Year and 2020 MACCC Coach of the Year, is entering his 20th season as a junior college football coach and his ninth as the head coach of the Rangers.
In 26 seasons overall as a collegiate coach, Parker has been a part of four national championships with three different programs in Jones County, Butler (Kan.) and Northwest, and coached in 13 bowl games, along with guiding the Rangers to back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Division I Football Playoffs.
Since being promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach on Feb. 17, 2016, Parker has guided Northwest to four straight MACJC/MACCC title games (six total), two bowl game appearances, a 65-19 overall record and a 41-7 mark in conference play.
Parker's .774 winning percentage currently ranks as the best all-time for a Northwest head coach, slightly above the .772 career win percentage from all-time winningest coach Bobby Ray Franklin (1981-2004). Additionally, Parker holds an .854 winning percentage in conference play.
Northwest finished 7-3 overall in 2023 and made the conference playoffs for the 10th straight season, the longest postseason streak in program history. Additionally, the Rangers also finished No. 13 in the final NJCAA rankings. Three Northwest players finished with NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American accolades: Dylan Spencer (offensive lineman). Charles Thomas (defensive back) and D.J. Burgess (defensive lineman).
In 2022, Northwest finished No. 3 in the final NJCAA rankings, capping off an undefeated regular season that ended with a 10-2 overall record. The Rangers fell to East Mississippi in the MACCC Championship game and then fell to Iowa Western in the NJCAA semifinals.
Despite falling short of capturing the program's fifth national title, six members of Parker's 2022 squad earned NJCAA All-American recognition, the most in a single season since 1992. Quarterback Ren Hefley earned First Team All-American nods, while offensive lineman Jay Mickle, defensive lineman Jykeveous Hibbler and defensive back Byron "Tank" Pearson earned second team honors. Additionally, receiver D.T. Sheffield and tight end Kevin Diaz were named to Honorable Mention status.
Equally as impressive was the amount of Rangers named to All-MACCC and All-Region 23 accolades. A total of 19 players earned all-conference recognition, with 11 of those also earning All-Region 23 honors.
Parker also helped send 29 members of the 2022 squad to the four-year level, the most in a single season. Since the 2016 season, 148 Rangers have signed or walked on at four-year schools, with 121 of those joining the Division I level at FBS or FCS programs. Some of the most notable members of the 2022 team to sign to the next level included Hibbler (N.C. State), Sheffield (Washington State), defensive back Stephen Hall (Washington State), Hefley (Middle Tennessee State), linebacker Sam Brumfield (Middle Tennessee State), Diaz (Arkansas State), Pearson (Ohio) and defensive lineman Omar Pew (Utah State).
Parker guided the Rangers through highs and lows in 2021, as Northwest went from a No. 2 national ranking to tumbling out of the polls altogether after a 3-2 start to the season. However, the Rangers rebounded nicely and ended the season with four consecutive victories, including two over nationally-ranked opponents. The 4-0 span in October helped push Northwest back into the NJCAA rankings and a second-place regular season finish in the MACCC North Division.
Parker's squad carried that success over into the MACCC Playoffs, upsetting a top five Jones College squad on the road, successfully avenging one of the Rangers' earlier two losses. Northwest followed up with a 56-21 rout of Hinds in the MACCC Championship game, earning its second consecutive conference title and a No. 3 national ranking.
With its top three ranking, Northwest was selected as one of four participants in the inaugural NJCAA Division I Playoffs, ending the season with a 9-3 overall record after a tough loss to No. 2-ranked New Mexico Military Institute.
Despite a challenging and shortened 2020 season (which included several schedule alterations, due to COVID-19), Parker guided Northwest to a 6-0 record, the MACCC North Division title and a 40-13 victory at Mississippi Gulf Coast on December 5, 2020, helping the Rangers cement the MACCC and National Community College Football championships.
Earlier in the 2020 season, Parker became the Rangers' second all-time winningest coach after a 26-9 win at Mississippi Delta on November 7. His record of 39-11 overall stands only behind Hall of Fame coach Bobby Franklin's 201-win total.
Parker guided Northwest to an 8-3 overall record and the MACJC North Division championship in 2019. The Rangers finished as the MACJC runner-up after falling by three points to top-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast in the conference title contest.
Northwest boasted the MACJC’s No. 1 scoring defense and second-ranked total defense during the 2017 season under Parker and the Rangers are three years removed from breaking a 24-year-old school record with 117 tackles-for-loss and 46 sacks, 7th most in single season school history.
Northwest tied the 1992 national championship team with four shutouts during the 2017 season, one shy of a school record, and held seven of its 11 opponents to three touchdowns or less.
Parker has coached 60 all-conference players in his first three seasons, 20 NJCAA All-Region 23 players and 10 NJCAA All-Americans. Since taking over as head coach, 92 of his players have signed with four-year programs via Northwest, including an impressive 67 to Division I programs.
Prior to Northwest, the Bruce native spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Troy University, one with the defensive secondary and seven coaching linebackers. Parker is well-known in the Mississippi Junior College ranks and proved to be beneficial in recruiting that area for the Trojans.
Troy won five consecutive Sun Belt Championships and posted five consecutive 8-win seasons from 2006-10. The Trojans also played in four bowl games in his eight seasons, including winning the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl twice, 41-17 over Rice in 2006 and 48-21 over Ohio in 2010.
Prior to his stint at Troy, Parker served as the defensive coordinator at Northeast Mississippi Community College for two seasons (2004-05). At Northeast, Parker helped turn the Tigers into a national powerhouse, and in his final season, the Tigers were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation and finished with a 7-2 overall record. They played in the Pilgrim’s Pride Bowl against Trinity Valley, the only bowl appearance in program history.
Prior to his two successful seasons at Northeast, Parker spent four seasons as linebackers coach at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan. He coached four NJCAA All-Americans at Butler and helped the Grizzlies to the 2003 NJCAA National Championship.
Parker’s other coaching experience includes spending a summer as a graduate assistant at Louisiana-Monroe in 2000 and two seasons at Jones County Junior College (1998-99) where he helped the Bobcats to a perfect 12-0 record during the 1998 season and NJCAA National Championship.
Parker played at Itawamba Community College (1993-94), later earned his bachelor’s in exercise science from Ole Miss (1998) and finished his master’s degree in education at William Carey University (2000).
Parker is married to the former Emily Moore of Calhoun County and the couple has one daughter, Mary Hastings (15).
