Parker Stone is entering his second season as SMU’s assistant tight ends coach and his first season as the program’s senior offensive analyst, having quickly established himself as a rising coach with a proven track record of developing high-level offensive skill players and NFL-caliber talent. Since joining the staff, Stone has worked with wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends as part of offensive units that have consistently ranked among the nation’s best.
Leading into the 2025 season, Stone was promoted to assistant tight ends coach. The position group played a critical role in SMU’s 9–4 season and Holiday Bowl victory, the program’s first bowl win in over a decade. The Mustangs finished with a top-25 offense, averaging 32.2 points per game. Under Stone’s guidance, Matthew Hibner produced the best season of his collegiate career, earning All-ACC Honorable Mention, Campbell Trophy Semifinalist honors, and an invitation to the Panini Senior Bowl. RJ Maryland returned from injury and set a new program record for career receiving yards by an SMU tight end (1,495), while also moving into second all-time in career receptions by a tight end (113).
Stone began working with the tight ends in 2024 following his promotion to graduate assistant and played a key role in the development of one of the top tight end units in FBS, led by RJ Maryland and Matthew Hibner. That season was historic as SMU advanced to the ACC Championship Game and earned a berth in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. Maryland, despite missing the second half of the season due to injury, earned All-ACC Honorable Mention and ACC Receiver of the Week, the first SMU player to receive the award. Following Maryland’s injury, Hibner assumed an expanded role and produced a career season. SMU’s offense finished the year ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring offense, rushing offense, passing offense, total offense, explosive plays, third-down conversion percentage, and sacks allowed.
In 2023, Stone worked with the running backs as SMU posted an 11–3 record and captured the American Athletic Conference Championship, the program’s first conference title in 40 years. The Mustangs finished eighth nationally in scoring offense (38.7 points per game) and 14th in total offense (472.8 yards per game), supported by a rushing attack that averaged 176.6 yards per game.
Stone began his collegiate coaching career at SMU in 2022 as a student assistant. That season, Stone worked with the wide receivers and helped guide an elite SMU offense that finished in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense (37.2 points per game), total offense (472.8 yards per game), and passing offense (316.7 yards per game). He assisted in the development of Rashee Rice, who later became a second-round NFL Draft pick and Senior Bowl invitee after setting the program’s single-season receiving yards record (1,355), leading the nation in receiving yards per game (112.9), and ranking fifth nationally in receptions (96).
A former SMU wide receiver, Stone medically retired from playing and joined the Mustangs’ coaching staff in the spring of 2022. During his time as a student at SMU, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Markets and Culture with a minor in Business and later completed a master’s degree in Liberal Studies while serving as a graduate assistant.
Stone gained his first coaching experience in the fall of 2019 as the wide receivers coach at Parish Episcopal School, where he helped guide the program to its first state championship in Texas’ highest private school division.
