Harlon Barnett
Harlon Barnett went 2–8 on the field as a head coach, 2023, at Michigan State; 0–8 officially, after the NCAA vacated two wins (2023). Share
- Record
- 0–8 official; 2–8 on the field
- Seasons
- 1
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jan 2, 1967
- Alma mater
- Michigan State 1990
- Best season
- 2023 4–8
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Michigan State interim | 2–8 (0–8 official) | 6th (East) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Conference games | 9 | 2–7 | 22% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| At home | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| On the road | 5 | 1–4 | 20% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 10 | 2–8 | 20% |
His own 10 games on file, 2023, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Indianaseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Nebraskaseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Marylandseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Michiganseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Minnesotaseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Rutgersseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Penn Stateseries | 1 | 0–1 |
Other roles
- Team captain, Michigan State 1989 (his playing career)
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | Princeton HS (OH) high school | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2000–02 | Princeton HS (OH) high school | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2003 | LSU | Graduate assistant | |
| 2004–06 | Cincinnati | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2007–14 | Michigan State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2015–17 | Michigan State | Assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2018–19 | Florida State | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2020–23 | Michigan State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2023 | Michigan State | Interim head coach | |
| 2024–25 | Northwestern | Assistant head coach and defensive backs coach | |
| 2026–present | Pittsburgh | Assistant head coach and safeties coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Nick SabanLSU
- Mark DantonioCincinnati, Michigan State
- Brian KellyCincinnati
- Don TreadwellMichigan State
- Willie TaggartFlorida State
- Odell HagginsFlorida State
- Mel TuckerMichigan State
- David BraunNorthwestern
- Pat NarduzziPittsburgh
Assistants who became head coaches
- Chris KapilovicAuburn
- Mark DantonioCincinnati, Michigan State
- Ross ElsHastings
Worked under (9)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban | LSU | 2003 | Graduate assistant | |
| Mark Dantonio | Cincinnati | 2004–06 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Brian Kelly | Cincinnati | 2006 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Mark Dantonio | Michigan State | 2007–17 | 2007–14: defensive backs coach; 2015–17: assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Don Treadwell | Michigan State | 2010 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Willie Taggart | Florida State | 2018–19 | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Odell Haggins | Florida State | 2019 | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Mel Tucker | Michigan State | 2020–23 | Defensive backs coach | |
| David Braun | Northwestern | 2024–25 | Assistant head coach and defensive backs coach | |
| Pat Narduzzi | Pittsburgh | 2026 | Assistant head coach and safeties coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (3)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Kapilovic | Michigan State, 2023: assistant head coach, offensive line coach and running game coordinator | Auburn | |
| Mark Dantonio | Michigan State, 2023: associate head coach | Cincinnati, Michigan State | |
| Ross Els | Michigan State, 2023: special teams coordinator and linebackers coach | Hastings |
Other assistants under him (2)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jay Johnson | Michigan State, 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Scottie Hazelton | Michigan State, 2023: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Michigan State | co-defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $155,205 | $452,570 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Michigan State | co-defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $151,420 | $440,034 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Michigan State | co-defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $141,836 | $412,349 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Barnett’s teams went for it on 17% of fourth downs and on 38% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 54% of plays and took 26.2 seconds a play, in 2023.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 12 g | 18 of 104 17% | 38% | 54% | 26.2 | −0.15 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.