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HASKELL, Ark. -- After a successful run as head coach of The Citadel from 1966-72, coach Jimmy "Red" Parker was ushered in as Clemson's new head football coach on December 5, 1972. Parker had already been in the coaching profession for 20 years before taking the post, and had never served as anything other than a head coach.

Though Parker is largely credited with building and recruiting a foundation that would ultimately set the stage for Clemson's longest stint ever in the national spotlight from 1977-91, the 1974 ACC Coach of the Year is somewhat of an overlooked figure from the modern era in Clemson lore.

That is until now, following the coach's candid, exclusive interview with Tigerillustrated.com where he revealed a story gone bad due to a climate of distrust, backstabbing and scheming which led to his firing on the day of December 1, 1976.

I met with Parker on the morning of May 11, 2011, where for several hours he placed himself back in Upstate South Carolina one more time to revisit his tenure as the Tigers' head coach.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: When I first began covering Clemson in 1993, I remember writing down a list of 10 figures in Clemson football history I wanted to interview. No. 1 on the list was former head football coach Red Parker.

Of all the figures in Clemson history, certainly in the modern era, I felt Parker was the most overlooked. I felt there was a lot still left untold and unspoken with regard to his time here, specifically his tumultuous final season and subsequent departure.

I can honestly say of all the projects and interviews I've had the pleasure to work on throughout my career, this was by far my favorite. I remember leaving Mr. Parker's office five years ago following this interview and before I could get out of the town of Haskell, Ark., I phoned Tigerillustrated.com senior writer Larry Williams. I said to Larry, "I just got done with the best interview of my career. Red Parker was incredible."

And it wasn't close.

In my entire life, I've never known any individual with the sheer recall and memory bank Red Parker possessed. It's as though he never left Clemson, South Carolina. To see this 79-year old man - without hesitation - reel off names, dates, conversations, direct quotes (which I later corroborated in my research) from the mid 1970's was nothing short of remarkable. It spoke to not only Mr. Parker's aptitude and recall, but also indicated to me this was a man still hurting and not yet at peace with the way his head coaching career had come to a close in Clemson, South Carolina.

Two days prior, I had just left Tommy Bowden's home in Panama City Beach (Fla.). I had put in roughly 25 hours of research into the Parker interview back in Clemson. I had never spent more time on a single project for Tigerillustrated.com. I remember going over my notes on the 11-hour drive from Florida to Arkansas and several things began to concern me about this interview.

I knew that Parker had always felt former Clemson head coach Charley Pell took his job. I knew that he was still carrying that with him. Pell wasn't around to defend himself, but Parker could certainly give me his perspective and possibly a blow-by-blow account of precisely what transpired in 1976. The question was whether he would be willing to go on the record with it. And was he ever!

Each former Clemson head coach I interviewed wanted to go off the record at times during the interview process. Parker wanted me to cut the recorder off on three occasions, one of which was to give a very candid, unfavorable opinion of a former Clemson figure, though he expressly told me he preferred I not release it in the interview because a family member of this individual was still alive, a family member he respected. He told me I was free to release his appraisal of this Clemson figure only if the relative were to pass away. That has not happened as of this writing, so we will continue to comply, of course.

In addition, I knew Parker had some health issues. At the time of this interview (well before his death in January of 2016), he was 79 years old. In fact when I phoned him from my hotel room in Mississippi the night before, he said, "There's something wrong with me and I'm not sure what it is. The doctors aren't even sure. I've not been feeling well but I'm looking forward to seeing you, son. I just hope I don't let you down."

When I walked into his office the following morning, I told him I had become a Red Parker expert and I knew many things about his past. I told him I'd recite a lot of it in my questioning in an effort to jog his memory. He just smiled and pointed to the crown of his head, saying, "I don't need those notes. It's all up here. It never left."

He couldn't have been more right!

Mr. Parker was meeting with a couple of high school players. He quickly ushered both out, telling them, "This guy from Clemson, South Carolina has come all this way to see me. I've got to spend a few hours with him."

He then gently took off his hat, sat back in a chair and asked, "Son, are you ready?"

I said, "Yes sir, I am. We've got a lot to talk about."

And he replied, "Yes we do. I'm ready for you, son. Let's do it."

This is Red Parker, in his own words.

This is his story.