Harlon Barnett, former Michigan State interim coach, reportedly lands with new B1G team

Harlon Barnett is a long-time player and coach at Michigan State, but the former Spartans interim coach last season is reportedly on the move within the conference.

Barnett is expected to be hired as the new defensive backs coach at Northwestern, according to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports. The former All-American defensive back previously spent 15 years on staff.

Jonathan Smith considered retaining Barnett, who previously lobbied for the permanent job earlier last season, but they ultimately parted ways in December.

Barnett came back to the Spartans in 2020 after he spent 2018-19 as the defensive coordinator at Florida State. He previously spent 11 seasons (2007-17) as the secondary coach at Michigan State, including 3 seasons as the co-defensive coordinator (2015-17) and one as the associate head coach (2017), before he left for FSU. He coached the cornerbacks in 2020 before returning to coach the entire secondary in 2021.

Barnett is a native of Cincinnati and began his career as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at LSU in 2003, then landed his first full-time job the following year coaching Cincinnati’s secondary for Mark Dantonio. He then joined Dantonio at Michigan State in 2007.

Northwestern is expected to hire Harlon Barnett as a defensive backs coach, sources tell @247Sports.

Barnett worked at Michigan State the last four seasons and was the team’s interim head coach last season. Was previously the DC at Florida State.https://t.co/dJORJ80Uo5 pic.twitter.com/ZFNxgD9pVy

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 7, 2024

Keith Farner

Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.