Bernie Parmalee Staff

Under his watch, four of the eight-best single-season reception totals by a tight end at Notre Dame have occurred and two of the top-three career totals by Irish tight ends have been tallied.

Anthony Fasano, John Carlson and Kyle Rudolph have all etched their names in the program[apos]s record book and have helped establish Notre Dame as the premier destination for top-flight tight ends.

Over the last three National Football League drafts, 11 tight ends have been selected in the first or second round. Notre Dame is the only school to have multiple selections of the 11 as Carlson was taken by the Seattle Seahawks with the 38th pick overall in 2008 and Fasano was drafted 53rd overall in 2006 by the Dallas Cowboys.

Carlson was drafted after recording 100 career receptions for 1,093 yards at Notre Dame. He ranks second all-time in receptions by a tight end at Notre Dame and third in career receiving yards by an Irish tight end.
Fasano preceded Carlson and registered 92 career catches for 1,102 yards, ranking third and second, respectively, on the school[apos]s receptions and receiving yards by a tight end lists.

In 2008, Parmalee not only coached Rudolph to the most productive season by a freshman tight end in school history but also helped Rudolph earn multiple national postseason honors.

Rudolph started all 13 games, becoming the first Notre Dame rookie tight end to ever start a season opener. He ranked fifth on the team with 29 receptions and his 340 receiving yards was fourth most.

Rudolph set school records for receptions and receiving yards by an Irish freshman tight end and the 29 catches were the eighth most ever in a season by a Notre Dame tight end.

Following the season, Rudolph was named a first-team all-freshman player by Sporting News, CollegeFootballNews.com and Phil Steele.

Carlson recorded the second and fifth-most catches in a season by an Irish tight end when he caught 47 passes in [apos]06 and 40 receptions in [apos]07. In [apos]07, he led the team in receptions and his 372 receiving yards also paced the Irish.

Carlson was on pace to shatter the school record in 2006 for receptions and receiving yards in a season by a tight end before a knee injury sidelined him for the final two and a half games of the regular season. Still, Carlson registered 47 receptions for 634 yards (second most by a Notre Dame tight end in a season) and four touchdowns. He was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, presented annually to college football[apos]s finest tight end, and named a second-team All-American by SI.com.

Fasano, a finalist for the 2005 John Mackey Award, posted impressive numbers with 47 catches (second most in a season by an Irish tight end) for 576 yards (third most by a Notre Dame tight end) and two TDs. Fasano and Carlson combined for 54 catches for 632 yards and three TDs in 2005.

Parmalee[apos]s past role on special teams helped Notre Dame produce a consistent opportunistic unit that produced two TDs (both on punt returns), three blocked punts and two blocked field goals from 2005-06.

Finished his third season as a member of the Dolphins[apos] staff and his first as Miami tight end coach in 2004. He spent the 2003 season as an assistant special teams/offensive assistant with the Dolphins. He embarked on his NFL coaching career in 2002 as Miami[apos]s assistant special teams coach after a nine-year playing career, including the first seven (1992-98) with the Dolphins and the final two (1999-2000) with the New York Jets.

He played from 1992-95 under legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, 1996-98 with Miami under Jimmy Johnson and 1999-2000 with the New York Jets under Bill Parcells and Al Groh, respectively (Irish head coach Charlie Weis was the Jets[apos] offensive coordinator in 1999).

A featured running back, starting fullback (four games in [apos]97), third-down back and special teams stalwart at different times during his professional career, Parmalee played in 134 NFL games, starting 26 of them.

He rushed for 2,179 career yards and scored 17 TDs on 567 carries, caught 168 career passes for 1,485 yards and three TDs and returned 16 career kickoffs for an 18.1-yard average.

Parmalee was a four-year starter at Ball State at running back and is the Cardinals[apos] leading career rusher with 3,483 yards and 26 TDs.

He earned his degree in business administration from the Muncie, Ind., school in 1991.
A native of Jersey City, N.J., Parmalee was born Sept. 16, 1967. He and his wife, Angela, are parents of a daughter, Nakia Marie, and two sons, Tre Bernard and Torian.