Notre Dame football have finally found an offensive coordinator after Tommy Rees departed for Alabama. However, it's a bit of a surprising move.

Notre Dame are promoting tight ends coach Gerad Parker to offensive coordinator. Parker formally interviewed for the position on Tuesday and became a top candidate as a result.

The promotion of Parker isn't surprising in and of itself. The Notre Dame coach was a candidate for the job early on in the process. However, it's a surprising development given how the Fighting Irish conducted their search to begin with.

Notre Dame targeted two outside candidates before settling on Parker. The first was Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein. Klein returned to Kansas State after visiting South Bend.

The second was Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. Ludwig was a favorite to replace Rees throughout the process. However, he returned to the Utes after discussions around his contract buyout became an issue.

Parker has experience calling plays. He served as the offensive coordinator at West Virginia for two seasons before joining Notre Dame football. Though his connection with head coach Marcus Freeman is deeper than that.

Freeman and Parker worked together at previous stints with Purdue and Cincinnati. Parker served as interim head coach of the Boilermakers at one point while the two were at Purdue.

Parker brings a familiarity of the system to his new role, but also a familiarity with the head coach. He knows exactly how Freeman likes to operate, and that could be a major help when installing offensive changes.

Parker being the school's third choice as offensive coordinator may make this move feel uninspiring. Only time will tell if the third time is the charm for the Fighting Irish.