Harlon Barnett Reflects on Time Away from Michigan State

Harlon Barnett reflects on his time away at Florida State and how he has change returning to Michigan State.

East Lansing, Mich—Harlon Barnett rose to national prominence as an All-American at Michigan State. He had tremendous success as a coach and defensive coordinator as well. He left East Lansing for Florida State, where he worked before coming back to Michigan State to join Mel Tucker’s staff.

 He discussed if he was a different coach, then when he left two years ago.  

 “I think so. There are some things that I picked up down there (Florida State) even though it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be,” Barnett says. “I always tell people this, even though it didn’t go the way I thought it was going to go, it went exactly the way God thought it was going to go. My pastor down there, he said, God never says ‘Oops.’ I didn’t know that was going to happen; He knew it was going to happen, but it wasn’t the way that we had planned.”

 

Barnett elaborated on the learning curve while in Tallahassee, “But there were some things that I picked up down there that I think is going to help me in the future as far as going forward in my coaching career. Sharing it is another thing; debating on saying what it was in particular just because. The way we recruited down, there was a little different, and being down there in the South recruiting, you could pick up some things and learn some different things. That probably would be the number one thing, I would say.”

The Spartans kick off the season on September 5, 2020. They will be hosting in the Northwestern Wildcats with a rare, season-opening Big Ten game.

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