{"id":13781,"date":"2024-02-07T14:44:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T19:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/?p=13781"},"modified":"2024-02-07T14:44:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T19:44:32","slug":"harlon-barnett-finds-new-big-ten-coaching-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/?p=13781","title":{"rendered":"Harlon Barnett finds new Big Ten coaching job"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Since he wasn&#8217;t retained on Jonathan Smith&#8217;s new staff, Harlon Barnett went out and found himself another Big Ten job.<\/h2>\n<p>Although this isn\u2019t news that impacts Michigan State directly, I for one am very excited about it. Former Spartan interim head coach Harlon Barnett has found a new job coaching defensive backs at Northwestern.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Northwestern is expected to hire Harlon Barnett as a defensive backs coach, sources tell <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/247Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@247Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Barnett worked at Michigan State the last four seasons and was the team\u2019s interim head coach last season. Was previously the DC at Florida State.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dJORJ80Uo5\">https:\/\/t.co\/dJORJ80Uo5<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZFNxgD9pVy\">pic.twitter.com\/ZFNxgD9pVy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mzenitz\/status\/1755051458414678134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As you all know, Barnett stepped up during one of the worst moments in Michigan State football history and helped guide the program through some rough waters. <a href=\"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/mel-tucker-reportedly-fired-head-coach-harlon-barnett\/\">He became the interim head coach after Mel Tucker was suspended<\/a> and then fired from the program, and he did an excellent job of keeping the team together.<\/p>\n<p>I think being a defensive backs coach is a perfect fit for him. He has a ton of experience both as a player and coach at this position, so I have no doubt he will excel at Northwestern.<\/p>\n<h3>Harlon Barnett\u2019s reputation at Michigan State<\/h3>\n<p>There isn\u2019t one bad thing I can say about Harlon Barnett. He is the definition of a true Spartan. The season may not have gone as we hoped, but the wins and losses shouldn\u2019t matter to his legacy.<\/p>\n<p>During his time as interim head coach, Barnett led MSU to a 2-8 record with wins over Nebraska and Indiana. He was also close to road wins against Iowa and Rutgers, but late game collapses hurt the Spartans those games.<\/p>\n<p>Barnett also spent five years as a player in East Lansing under George Perles. He was a three-year starter playing defensive back and was also a captain as a senior. Barnett was part of the legendary 1987 team that won the Big Ten and 1988 Rose Bowl. During that season, he compiled 73 tackles, three interceptions, and three fumble recoveries.<\/p>\n<p>Harlon is and always will be a legendary figure in Michigan State history. He was part of some historic teams in the 1980s as a player and was also part of Mark Dantonio\u2019s staff from 2007-2017 during the height of Dantonio\u2019s era. Even though his tenure in East Lansing may have ended on a low note, what he did for the program now and in the past should make Spartan fans forever grateful.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t usually cheer for other Big Ten teams, but I\u2019ll always be rooting for Harlon throughout his entire career. He undoubtedly deserves our support after everything he\u2019s done for MSU. I just hope the fanbase can continue to show him the support he deserves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good for Harlon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":13805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[499,191,189,504],"class_list":["post-13781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-harlon-barnett","tag-michigan-state-football","tag-michigan-state-spartans","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}