After a five-year playing career, 15 seasons as an assistant coach and the Spartans' interim head coach for the final 10 games of the 2023 season, Harlon Barnett's time with Michigan State football is over.
According to a report from the Lansing State Journal, Barnett will look for other opportunities to continue his coaching career outside of East Lansing.
“It’s time for me to move on," Barnett told the LSJ's Graham Crouch. "I’m looking for opportunities at other programs, be it college or the NFL. I’m excited about it. It’s time.”
Barnett told the State Journal that he met with new Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith this week, and Smith informed Barnett he was looking at three other candidates to coach the Spartans' defensive backs. Smith has already hired Blue Adams as a secondary coach this offseason, but appears to be seeking a second assistant coach to help Adams with the DBs.
“When I met with (Smith) Monday, it was freeing,” Barnett told the LSJ. “I know now and that's good. I wasn't sure if God still wanted me to stay here at Michigan State or not. … I feel great. Like, I was lighter. I didn't realize I had a weight on me. But when he did that, I just felt different, like ‘Yep, it's time to move.’ ”
Barnett interviewed for Michigan State's permanent head coach position following the conclusion of the 2023 season. But, after the Spartans finished just 2-8 in Barnett's 10 games as interim in the wake of Mel Tucker's firing, MSU athletic director Alan Haller was ready to go in a different direction.
“I just wanted to get a real opportunity, because I felt like I could do it,” Barnett said. “I’m not one to make excuses, but I was running somebody else’s program with somebody’s else’s staff.”
Under former Michigan State head coach George Perles, Barnett was a three-year starter at safety during his Spartan career from 1986-89. He helped lead MSU to a Big Ten and Rose Bowl championship in 1987, and was named an All-American as a senior in '89 after compiling 73 tackles, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
Following a seven-year NFL career, Barnett started his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at LSU. He was then hired as a defensive backs coach by Mark Dantonio at Cincinnati, where they spent three seasons together. After Dantonio was hired as head coach at Michigan State in 2007, he brought Barnett with him to East Lansing.
Barnett spent 11 seasons on Dantonio's staff at MSU, including two seasons as co-defensive coordinator. In 2018, Barnett left to become the defensive coordinator at Florida State for two years, but returned to Michigan State as defensive backs coach under Tucker in 2020.
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