Michigan State acting head coach Harlon Barnett took to the podium and addressed the media on Tuesday afternoon. This was his first time speaking publicly as acting head coach since the news broke regarding harassment allegations against Mel Tucker in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Barnett will be making his debut at the helm on Saturday against Washington at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, which will stream exclusively on Peacock.
Related: MSU Acting Head Coach Harlon Barnett: 'We're Spartans, we're resilient'
This Saturday will certainly be a challenging first test for the newly-appointed acting head coach. Barnett talked about the matchup versus the No. 8-ranked Washington Huskies, and more specifically, quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who is in his sixth collegiate season now. Penix has been great against the Spartans in prior. years, and was nothing short of brilliant last year when the Huskies defeated the Spartans by a final score of 39-28 in Seattle.
Last year, Penix threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns, and picked apart the Spartans' secondary effortlessly. Prior to transferring to Washington, Penix spent four years at Indiana University and will be starting against the Spartans for the fourth time in his career (2-1 record in the first three meetings). Despite the outside noise and distractions, Barnett insists that his players are focused on the upcoming game.
“They’ve been focused, they’re locked in, they know the challenges ahead of us with (Michael) Penix,” Barnett said on Tuesday.
Barnett emphasized the fact that Penix is a “really good football player.” He added that “it’s tough to keep bouncing back from injury like he does and go out there and play like he’s been playing … he’s a player.”
The Washington quarterback has posted an impressive stat line so far in the young 2023 season. He has thrown eight touchdowns to only one interception, with more than 400 yards in each of his first two games. In fact, Washington currently leads the country in passing yards per game with an average of 472.0.
The Huskies have also averaged a total of 49.5 points per game, currently tying them for eighth in the country. Michigan State, on the other hand, is averaging 38 points per game, which ties for 34th in the country.
Barnett is a secondary coach by trade. When asked about his approach to the Huskies, and having a response to their impressive passing game, Barnett knows what he needs to do to stop UW's prolific offense. The Spartans plan to mix up coverages against the Huskies.
“We’ll mix it up, like we’ve been doing," Barnett said about the coverages he plans to play against Washington. "I know what you’ve been seeing, but we’ll mix it up. We’ve been mixing it up pretty good (so far this season), like we’ve always done, and we’re going to try to put our guys in the best position to make plays. So, that’s what it’s really all about.”
After a team meeting on Sunday, where Barnett addressed his players for the first time as acting head coach, he told the players that it is now more important than ever to come together during this time of adversity. Barnett emphasized the importance of his leaders. He mentions that he wants them to lead with “love, encouragement and discipline.”
Barnett talked at length about Mark Dantonio, who is returning to Michigan State as associate head coach, and how he has influenced his legacy and coaching style.
Dantonio, the former head coach and winningest coach in MSU program history (114 victories) hired Barnett into his first full-time college coaching job at the University of Cincinnati in 2004. With Dantonio now returning to the program as an associate head coach, Barnett mentions that Dantonio brings the “calm presence, the wisdom, and the knowledge of being a head coach — and a very successful head coach at that.”
Barnett, who incorporates his faith into his leadership style mentions that there are a lot of religious players and coaches on his staff, and he uses it to his advantage to bring his group closer together.
“It’s the ultimate way to bring people together," Barnett said. "Something we used to do with Coach Dantonio every day after practice, everybody would come up and we would say, ‘Who got it?’ And somebody would pray … and a lot of times it would be quiet and someone else would step up and say, ‘I got it.’
A big cause for concern this weekend is injuries. In last weekend’s 45-14 rout of Richmond, linebacker Jacoby Windmon, and running back Jalen Berger both went out with injuries. Running back Jaren Mangham, who has yet to see the field for the Spartans went out for pregame stretches versus Richmond, but left the field shortly afterward.
When asked about injury updates regarding Windmon, Berger and Mangham, Barnett mentioned that he’s “been around (Bill) Belichick,” alluding to the fact that he doesn’t want to give specific injury update on his players, so he is giving “Belichick answers.” He then paused and said they’re “day to day.”
Another interesting aspect of the Tucker situation is how it will affect recruiting for Michigan State, especially as it relates to the 13 players who are currently committed to the 2024 class.
Barnett noted that as of now, his conversations with the committed players have all been positive. Barnett and the position coaches have been in constant communications with the commits, and
"I've talked to all the defensive back commits for sure, and all the coaches have handled their positions." Barnett said when asked how committed recruits have reacted to the Tucker news. "I'm going to then go behind the coaches at the other positions between today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday) and talk to those other committed guys.
"They (the commits) were really good (about understanding the situation). I can't say names, obviously, you know that, but they were really (like), 'Coach, we're locked in with you. We're locked in. We're with you.' And they had some questions and concerns early on — 'What's going on, what's going to happen?' And just this, that and the other, but they're all in right now."
Of course, it's going to be difficult to keep everybody happy and make sure everybody stays committed, but it sounds like the Spartans are doing everything possible to keep the 2024 class together.