Grid Insider: Meet Harlon Barnett
12/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 18, 2006
Harlon Barnett
Harlon Barnett, a four-year letterwinner at Michigan State (1986-89) as a defensive back who was named a captain as a senior, returns to East Lansing with seven years of professional playing experience and nine seasons of coaching experience under his belt. He spent three seasons as secondary coach on Mark Dantonio's staff at Cincinnati.
A native of Cincinnati, Barnett was a three-year starter for Coach George Perles at Michigan State. He was a member of the 1987 Big Ten Championship team that went 9-2-1 overall and finished eighth in the final polls. Barnett, who also played in the Gator and Aloha Bowls during his career at MSU, earned first-team All-America recognition by The Sporting News as a senior in 1989.
Following his impressive career at Michigan State, Barnett was taken in the fourth round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, where he played for three seasons. He spent two seasons at New England (1993-94) and two more with Minnesota (1995-96).
Barnett recently met with the media and talked about returning to Michigan State, his coverage schemes in the secondary and his NFL experience.
On what makes MSU special . . .
The people are nice and the atmosphere is what drew me in. We've had a great time and we also had some success here. It's one of the nicest campuses in America and I've been fortunate to see a lot of campuses over the years. I told the rest of the coaches that this place is ready to explode with a winner. I know how this place is with a winner and it's going to be a really good place to be at again.
On rebuilding the secondary . . .
I have watched closely as far as the scores because as a coach, it's tough to actually see the games. I can't say that I know much about the current secondary; the first time I was able to address them was just 45 minutes ago. I'll get a good assessment of them before we go out and start spring ball. During winter conditioning, I'll get a good chance to watch a lot of film.
On his coverage schemes . . .
We run a lot of zone blitzes and get right in your face; we're in your face every snap. It's an over defense in a form we call "Over 4." That's our base defense, and we've got some good things that we work off that. The defensive staff is entering its fourth year together, so we know each other really well, we know what to expect and we know what to anticipate. The continuity that we have right there is a great thing. When we started at Cincinnati, we all came in with different ideas and thoughts. We had Pat's (Narduzzi) base defense of "Over 4," but we tweaked some things and brought in different inputs that have made a difference, and I think it showed this year with our defense at Cincinnati. Now, it's just a matter of learning about the kids and teaching them our system.
On the defense's complexity . . .
The defense is not very complex; we try to stay simple. We fly around to the ball, safeties get heavily involved, the corners are pressed up on the receivers, and we have fun. Coach Dantonio has talked about the three intangibles which take no ability: play with effort, play with toughness and know what to do. And then Coach Dantonio has added that knowing what to do allows you to play fast. Those three things we expect out of all our players because it takes no physical ability to do.
On his NFL experience as an asset . . .
It helps me in several ways. I've learned how to pull from different coaches and things they've learned and how they teach. Everybody's personality is different and I never aim to be somebody else, but I've pulled things coaching wise from all those coaches and still try to learn every year. I told the secondary "Everything I know, you'll know," because I want to see them succeed. I'm always open to other methods, and that's why I always try to continue to learn. If you're going to be a good coach, you've got to continue to learn.
In addition to the assistant coaches participating in the media roundtable, assistant athletics director/director of football operations Mike Vollmar and head strength and conditioning coach Ken Mannie also answered questions from the press.
Assistant AD/Director of Football Operations Mike Vollmar
Mike Vollmar enters his 12th year as an assistant athletics director and director of football operations for the Spartans. Vollmar's duties include overseeing the internal and external operations of the football program. In addition, he manages football's operating budget, oversees football facilities, organizes preseason camp, coordinates regular and postseason team travel, handles administrative duties related to recruiting and assists in future scheduling.
On all of the different aspects involved in recruiting . . .
Everybody is involved, all the assistant coaches and the head coach. One of the key people responsible for putting the whole weekend together is (operations assistant) Carrie Murphy. She does a great job of communicating, quite frequently with recruiting coordinator Mark Staten. All the coaches are responsible for getting on the road. Other people help out administratively in that process, including myself and director of player development Dino Folino.
There's a lot involved in putting together a recruiting weekend. A lot of individuals have different responsibilities to make sure that weekend runs smoothly. Recruits have an enjoyable time and obviously they've been learning about your institution for a while, but still this is the culminating thing as we get closer to the signing period, you want them to have a great experience on the campus.
On the spring practice schedule . . .
The staff will be looking into extending the length of the spring season. You are still allowed only 15 practices but instead of the normal 29-day period, we have 34 days to fit those 15 practices in. All the different NCAA limitations will still apply as far as how many contact practices we can have. However, at this point, the schedule for this upcoming spring has yet to be determined.
 Ken Mannie talked about the winter conditioning program.  | |
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Ken Mannie
Ken Mannie enters his 13th year as Michigan State's head strength and conditioning coach for football, while additionally directing and overseeing the strength and conditioning programs for all men's and women's sports.
On the evolution of his program . . .
Every coach and staff that comes in has ideas, and they always give their input. We evaluate their input and try to accommodate things they want to put in. We'll discuss and evaluate it - sometimes we agree and sometimes we'll have rationale for not doing it. We try to appease everyone in terms of what we do.
On having previously worked with some of the coaching staff . . .
I feel very comfortable. The ones I have not worked with in the past, I know of and have met them before. A lot of them are from Ohio and have coaching roots in Ohio where I'm from, so our paths have crossed. I've met most of them casually, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.
On the offseason . . .
Everyone always has to improve in overall strength, power, speed, change in direction, agility, overall endurance and body composition. There's always a staircase kind of effect going on in terms of their physical development. It's not a flat line, and they're always making upward progress.
