When the Tennessee Vols take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second week of the 2026 college football season, there will be a familiar face on the other sideline.

Former Tennessee All-SEC offensive lineman Anthony Parker, who played at Tennessee from 2004 to 2008, serves as Georgia Tech’s Director of Player Development.

And according to Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key, Parker is the “heart and soul” of Georgia Tech’s locker room.

“AP went to another school here in the South that’s not in this state,” said Key recently on 680 The Fan. “He was an All-American O-lineman. And we happen to be playing that team in the second game of the year. … it’s Tennessee*.”

“AP is our Director of Player Development. He is the heart and soul of our locker room. He is the mediator between the players, myself, and issues (that come up). He’s the problem solver. He figures things out [because of] the relationships he has with the players. And then he runs our entire life after football program — our fifth quarter program, which is all life after football. That also entails the financial and the fiscal education and literacy, career building and everything. Because I tell guys when they walk in the building — I want them to be a first round pick and a CEO. I don’t take that lightly. And AP’s been with me from the start. We’ve rocked and done this thing while locked in arms, and he’s as valuable as anybody.”

*Key initially declined to say “Tennessee” before being prodded by the hosts.

There are certainly plenty of issues that arise day-to-day in the transfer portal/NIL era — and those issues happen in every program. They’re unavoidable when you’re dealing with a roster of 100 different personalities. Having someone like Parker who can handle those issues when they come up is, as Key put it, invaluable.

Parker, who served as an offensive quality control analyst at Tennessee in 2013 and 2014, joined Georgia Tech’s staff as a defensive analyst in 2019. He was promoted to Director of Player Personnel in 2022.

The former Tennessee offensive lineman won’t be the only coach with a UT connection on the other sideline when the Vols play Georgia Tech this fall.

Yellow Jackets quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke was an assistant coach at Tennessee from 2018 to 2020.

Additionally, Georgia Tech strength coach AJ Artis and assistant strength coach Tyler Smith served on Tennessee’s strength and conditioning staff during the Jeremy Pruitt era (Artis was at Tennessee from 2018 to 2020 while Smith’s time on Rocky Top lasted just a few weeks in early 2021).

Tennessee and Georgia Tech will kick off at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN on September 12.