Photo by Shawn Bowles.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Parker Floyd (8).
To understand the unique nature of Parker Floyd’s decision, one must understand the football history of the Floyd family.
Josh Floyd, the current head coach at Hewitt-Trussville High School, was a record-setting high school quarterback for Gus Malzahn. Floyd’s potent offensive system has been the catalyst for nearly 200 wins as a high school coach himself.
Parker Floyd has grown up in a house where quarterback play and offensive football are second nature.
But entering his sophomore year of high school, Parker faced a dilemma. His older brother, Peyton, was the senior starting quarterback at Hewitt-Trussville, so Parker’s path to playing time was at least a year away.
The Huskies, however, needed some help on defense, and Parker’s experience playing both ways growing up made him a candidate to step into a linebacker spot for his team.
“Personally, I always liked defense a little better,” Parker said. “I like hitting people. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to play linebacker more.”
Parker diverted from the family norm and worked his way into a starring defensive role for the Huskies, and he has thrived. He led the team in tackles each of the last two years and entered his senior season as one of the most respected linebackers in the state.
“You just never know what’s going to happen,” Josh Floyd said.
Parker was named the Under the Lights All-South Metro Defensive Player of the Year last fall after posting 105 tackles and even scoring five touchdowns on offense.
“Ever since then, it’s been a little hard to move him, because he’s been so good on the defensive side of the ball,” Josh Floyd said.
As the middle child, Parker is now the only of the three brothers to be afforded the opportunity to play varsity football with both siblings. In 2023, his brother Peyton led the Huskies to the Class 7A semifinals with an outstanding season as the senior quarterback.
In 2025, Parker is now the senior, and his younger brother Jack is a freshman quarterback. Jack was forced into action early this season after the injury of starting quarterback Zach Benedict. In the Huskies’ win against Vestavia Hills on Sept. 5, both brothers took snaps at quarterback, but the physical nature of the game paired with Jack playing a strong game, Parker didn’t have to take many snaps under center.
It’s not even as if the week leading up to the game was any more stressful than normal for Parker, who is more than familiar with Hewitt-Trussville’s offense.
“My whole life, pretty much,” he said, with a laugh. “It’s nothing new, nothing crazy.”
Parker said Jack did “a great job stepping up” and that the team has plenty of confidence in the ninth grader to hold down the fort until Benedict returns.
“It’s definitely crazy being able to play with both brothers, and it’s been a lot of fun, for sure,” Parker said.
As far as his exploits at linebacker, Parker said his familiarity with all things offense certainly benefits him on the other side of the ball.
“It definitely helps me, with all kinds of concepts and run games,” he said. “Once I see one thing from one player, I know what everybody else on offense is doing, so I just have to go out there and play.”
The Hewitt-Trussville defense has also become one of the best units in the state over the last few years. The Huskies led Class 7A with only 9.5 points allowed per game in 2024, and they began this season with back-to-back shutouts and only allowing 14 points to a potent Vestavia Hills attack.
Parker has certainly led the charge in the middle of the defense, but he has been extremely impressed with his teammates as well. Defensive linemen like Woogie Crawford and D’ante Seals are game-wreckers. Linebacker Harrison Malone has made great strides playing alongside a leader like Parker. Sophomore Antonio Wynn could be a future star. And even a secondary sprinkled with some new players has shown plenty of promise so far.
“They’ve all done great stepping in,” Parker said.
Parker believes this year’s team has the potential to make a run at a state title when healthy. He would love to help bring the city of Trussville its first football blue map. The only other time the Huskies have been in the state championship game was 1992.
“I’ve got all the confidence in my team,” Parker said.
Parker certainly knows that to do so will require a great deal of attention to detail each day and each week as the season goes this year. He also aspires to play college football in the future, but has more important fish to fry for now.
