COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (August 2, 2017)
USA Shooting has announced today that Jason Parker (Omaha, Nebraska, pictured) has been named National Rifle Coach. Parker assumes coaching duties from Tom Tamas, who will serve as an Assistant Coach.
Along with competing in four Olympic Games, Parker earned 10 World Cup medals throughout his career, including eight victories. He also earned two World Championship and five Pan American Games medals. Parker recently retired from the Army after 20 years. Following his shooting career in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), Parker has served as the coach for the International Rifle Team since 2013, as well as an Assistant Coach for USA Shooting. Parker and Tamas have worked together coaching the National Team for several years and had been discussing transitioning Parker to the National Coach role for the past few months.
“Once I switched over to coaching four years ago, getting to work with the group of young athletes coming up and the potential I see with them – it’s just really exciting,” said Parker. “When I retired from the Army, this opportunity just presented itself and I absolutely jumped at it. I want to help these athletes get on the podium in Tokyo 2020 and beyond.”
“The thing that has impressed me with him is his absolute passion for coaching,” said USA Shooting interim CEO Dave Johnson. “He’s got a natural rapport with the younger generation. He did fantastic with the juniors in the last quad. He really understands the experience of being in Finals and knowing that pressure. He’s a World Champion, a World Cup medalist, a world-record holder and he’s one of the best standing shooters in the world. He’s uniquely qualified for success in this position.”
In 2015, Parker was named USA Shooting’s National Coach of the Year. After earning an Olympic quota during his win at the World Cup Final in 2015, USAMU’s Michael McPhail paid his coach the highest compliment: “He is, without a doubt, the very best coach I have ever had in any sport in any time of my life.”
USAMU’s George Norton also sung Parker’s praises following his silver-medal win at the 2015 Pan American Games. “A lot of people think he’s just the nicest guy, but you really have no idea,” said Norton. “He’s that kind of coach that even with as much technical ability as he has, his ability to not let you go down that rabbit hole of losing yourself is just amazing. He has this positive way of keeping you on the track that you need to be on without overanalyzing or psyching you out. He really is the best coach I’ve ever had.”
“Going to the Rio Olympics as a coach instead of an athlete was a very different experience,” Parker said. “It really helped me generate ideas of what we need to accomplish in the few years left in this quad. I shot my first Olympic Trials in 1996 and I’ve been a part of every single Olympic quad since then. I hope to take those experiences to help get people to the podium a little more quickly.”
Parker resides in Hamilton, Georgia with his wife, Andrea, and two sons, Tommy and Wyatt.