Harlon Barnett presser, pre-Rutgers
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:07 >> With the three straight losses and all the other noise around the program,
00:11 how much could this team just use a victory in the feeling of winning a game?
00:15 >> A lot.
00:16 >> [LAUGH] >> We would need it, just a lot.
00:18 I think it would be just great for us to get a win, and for the guys.
00:24 I think we need, winning does a lot for people.
00:27 And we definitely need to get that done.
00:30 We wanna get that done.
00:31 We're all striving to get that done first.
00:32 So to answer your question, it would do a lot for us, I think.
00:35 And the guy, cuz the guy, they're still working hard.
00:38 You have their enthusiasm and energy on today at practice this morning.
00:43 And so I just wanna see it for them.
00:46 I really, really do, to see if we can get a win for those guys.
00:50 >> And the quarterback, I think, is he reluctant to name one because you don't
00:53 want everyone to know, or because you really don't know?
00:56 >> Because we don't want anyone to know, kinda, you know what I mean?
01:00 But we're gonna, we know what we're gonna do, and we feel good about it.
01:05 And so, you'll see on Saturday.
01:07 >> Thanks, Bill.
01:11 >> Kind of looking back to the Iowa game,
01:14 when you got the parts through the film on both sides.
01:17 What were maybe some of the deficiencies that you saw beyond maybe
01:21 the quarterback play, and with the defensive side?
01:26 How did they look when you watched it back in terms of getting the three
01:31 outs and doing the things that you needed to stay in the game?
01:34 >> Well, they looked good.
01:35 They looked like what you saw going with the naked eye when you viewed the film.
01:41 There were some opportunities on defense where picks, I could see Malik and
01:45 I could see Kyle.
01:47 I mean, opportunities, opportunities.
01:49 And we talked about going into the game, there are gonna be opportunities.
01:53 We gotta take advantage of those opportunities.
01:55 And we did on some.
01:56 I mean, obviously, Angelo Gross had a great interception.
02:01 Touchdown for Kyle, ball pops out, and Simeon Barrow knocks the ball out, and
02:05 Kyle runs it for a touchdown, awesome.
02:07 But you never satisfy, all right?
02:10 Now Kyle catch the interception, now Malik catch the interception.
02:14 Those type of things would have contributed to us winning the ball game as well.
02:18 And so gotta take advantage of all opportunities when they present themselves.
02:23 >> I was wondering what you thought of the run game kind of moving forward as it
02:27 has been building with Nathan continuing to get the ball carries and
02:31 over 100 yards for their technically this year.
02:35 >> I love the run game.
02:36 I mean, I'm still old school in that way that you have to run the football and
02:41 then stop the run.
02:43 That's still football.
02:44 I know a lot of people don't think that cuz of people slinging the ball around.
02:47 But you still have to run the football and stop the run.
02:50 And so the way we run the ball on offense and all that is outstanding.
02:55 We just gotta, like we said, the turnovers, we have to cut down on turnovers.
02:58 We do that, we win the previous two games actually,
03:01 because we outgained with yards and time of possession and all that stuff.
03:05 But the turnover battle is what got us.
03:07 And so we have to start creating turnovers and
03:12 start creating turnovers on defense and start giving them up on offense.
03:15 >> Maybe going off that a little bit, I guess, but after the last couple games,
03:20 you've talked to us about some of those discipline things that have cropped up.
03:23 I'm wondering with the bye week, a little extra time,
03:25 how were you able to sort of drill into that?
03:27 And what sort of thing, whether you did something new or
03:29 harping on the same notes, just how did you address that with a little extra time?
03:32 >> Well, we have a rest of the practice.
03:34 And so last week, when they get a penalty report after practice,
03:40 and so we started stressing that in the team meeting.
03:45 If you were on the penalty report, you put up on the screen in the team room,
03:49 like your name, and then you have to stand up.
03:52 And we had the definition of the penalty.
03:54 They have to read out loud what that false start and what false start means.
03:58 And you have to take pushups in front of the whole team in the team meeting.
04:01 So that's something to put more emphasis on than we're starting to do.
04:05 And we'll just, anything to try to help.
04:08 So we're gonna do that, continue to do that.
04:12 Hopefully that helps.
04:13 And then whatever, if that doesn't, we'll just find something else to do.
04:15 But we definitely have to stop doing that.
04:17 I have to cut down on the penalties and being ourselves.
04:20 That's what we've been doing the last couple of games.
04:22 >> I wondered if you took any time during the bye week to reevaluate.
04:26 I mean, it's been a whirlwind of four weeks for you.
04:29 >> Sure has.
04:30 >> Just to reevaluate or get away from it, or
04:34 as a coach, you've never turned it off this time of year?
04:38 >> Well, because we're not recruiting on Friday.
04:41 I'm not recruiting on Friday.
04:42 So really Saturday was the day that kinda kicked back a little bit,
04:47 hang out with my wife.
04:47 But you're right, that was the most down time I had.
04:54 But Saturday, I think about it a little bit, and
04:56 I had Coach Dan told me, like, call me earlier in the week.
05:00 And just say, just think about what's going on with you, man.
05:04 You just got, you just thrown right into it.
05:06 It wasn't like you got hired in December or January,
05:09 had nine months to build up to the season.
05:12 And I never even thought about it until he said it, because it was just go.
05:16 And so, and I'm not an excuse maker.
05:19 So it's like, go, okay, this is where we end, let's go win,
05:22 let's go beat Washington, let's go beat everybody, right?
05:25 But when you get a chance to sit back and think about it a little bit,
05:28 you're like, okay, I see what the situation is.
05:30 Let's learn from it, and then let's get better from it.
05:35 So I told the guys, today is seven weeks to go,
05:40 let's execute in everything that we do, on the field and off the field.
05:43 Go in the class, be on time in class, go on the tutors, all of that,
05:47 because that stuff ends up showing up on the field.
05:49 Be on time in meetings, everything that we need to do, eliminate penalties.
05:52 And so that's what my mind went,
05:55 trying to help us finish strong these last seven games.
05:58 So we're zero on zero, we got a clean slate.
06:01 Let's go zero, we're zero on zero right now, clean slate.
06:04 Let's go knock these next seven out with everything that we have.
06:07 >> I'm gonna guess you still watch football Saturday.
06:10 >> Of course.
06:10 [LAUGH] I'm crazy like that, but football is fun to watch,
06:15 and you see things that people are doing, and it's just fun to watch.
06:21 I love football, and that's how it is for me.
06:23 Yes, absolutely, I do watch some football.
06:25 I watch the Eagle Knights from three, too.
06:27 I like Eagle Knights movies.
06:29 >> Kind of similar along those lines, I'm wondering particularly the way that
06:36 the Iowa game transpired and the loss against Maryland.
06:41 In your real first test as a head coach,
06:44 how have you tried to keep the guys' heads together with how those games went?
06:50 Is it a situation where you, like you mentioned before,
06:53 have to point out, okay, we were this close, this close?
06:56 And what things do you do to keep them engaged and
07:00 realize that they can win those seven games ahead?
07:03 >> That's a great question.
07:05 Showing them, just actually showing them how close we are, they see it for
07:09 themselves, and so you show certain points in the games where, look,
07:13 this guy is shaking his head like right there and right there.
07:17 They can see it for themselves, and you just keep showing them over and over.
07:21 And you're hoping that it gets sunk in so much so
07:26 that when those times come in the actual game, the next game coming up,
07:30 that they're remembering this, okay, let's go.
07:33 And they're reminding each other, they're coaching each other up on things, and
07:36 let's not beat ourselves.
07:37 Let's execute, let's focus even more.
07:40 And so that's what you're hoping for.
07:42 You just continue to show it to them that they're right there.
07:45 You're not just saying some fairy tales and just making things up.
07:48 They're seeing it for themselves.
07:49 Yeah, we are right there.
07:51 We're right there.
07:51 And so that's why they keep believing, they keep trying,
07:54 they keep giving everything that they have.
07:56 >> Do you worry about a checkout factor having a week off after that?
07:59 Or do you feel like they have a revitalized focus?
08:04 >> They're revitalized.
08:05 I can see in today's practice, revitalized.
08:08 You always, I should say you always, I would think about the checkout factor.
08:13 Like by Iowa, by Iowa.
08:16 Now I think they're all in.
08:19 They're all in.
08:19 And we never really had any real checkout factor prior to Iowa or after.
08:24 And when I saw that, I said, let's go.
08:26 They're ready to go.
08:27 Let's go, seven weeks, seven weeks.
08:30 >> With uncertainty, the quarterback position,
08:32 does that do anything to a locker room dynamic?
08:34 Is it kind of a rallying cry?
08:35 Or is it maybe, is there a potential for a split in the locker room?
08:39 Or how do people, how do the guys react to that?
08:41 >> Well, the guys, they know that they just wanna win.
08:47 They wanna win.
08:48 And they know that we're gonna give them the best opportunity to win,
08:52 the quarterback or any other position for that matter.
08:55 And so they're all teammates and they all root for one another.
09:00 They all know the best players play.
09:02 And we're all competing every day for our jobs.
09:05 So I don't think there's a split in the locker room or anything like that.
09:10 Guys just wanna win football games.
09:11 That's really all it boils down to.
09:13 And it doesn't just boil down to the quarterback either.
09:17 So it's all positions.
09:18 And we show, like we were talking earlier,
09:21 we show things where everybody could have done something better and
09:25 made plays and did things.
09:27 So it's not just the quarterback.
09:28 So they understand that and the quarterback is no different.
09:30 Best players play and that's how we're gonna do it.
09:34 >> I'll come for you.
09:36 Is everybody, you mentioned the guys are sort of all in or
09:40 is anybody else jumped in the portal or notified you that they don't want to
09:44 be a part of the rest of the season since the Iowa game?
09:48 >> That's a great question.
09:49 I'm trying to, I'm not a liar.
09:51 So that's because something's not out there.
09:53 But now I feel like I have to say it because you asked that question, but
09:55 I don't wanna answer it.
09:57 But so today, this morning, Jordan Simmons came up and
10:02 said he thinks he's gonna jump in the portal.
10:06 And so with that being said, he's off the team.
10:10 And it wasn't nothing bad.
10:11 He went on and talked to his friends over the bi-week.
10:14 And we said, okay, that's fine.
10:16 So this is what he has available to him as far as football is concerned.
10:21 He's the one, that's it.
10:24 >> The other question, you talked about going recruiting Friday.
10:26 And you've been recruiting for a lot of years.
10:29 I'm wondering how different this is and what sort of questions and
10:32 how you recruit in this particular situation?
10:35 >> Great question.
10:37 So the guys I went to see were guys, one was committed,
10:42 one was previously committed, but they both were great.
10:46 So the one that's still committed right now, he was good.
10:53 He was good.
10:53 They're just trying to wait it out and see what happens.
10:56 You know what I mean?
10:57 The other kid that decommitted, even when he decommitted, said, coach,
11:00 if you're there, I'm there.
11:01 So there's no question.
11:03 So I just gotta make, I said, I understand.
11:05 I understand, you're trying to make sure with his family,
11:08 just letting others know that he could possibly be going somewhere else.
11:11 So it can be tough.
11:15 I'm being honest, cuz you don't know what's really gonna happen.
11:18 And that's where they are.
11:19 And you gotta understand their situation.
11:21 But they chose Michigan State.
11:23 It's a great place.
11:25 And I'm always gonna stay in Michigan State regardless, if I'm here or not.
11:28 So they can't go wrong, in my opinion.
11:31 But you just gotta figure out a way how to talk to people and
11:36 make them understand that, hey, keep riding out, be patient with us, and
11:40 let's see what happens.
11:43 >> As an attempt to maybe get some more injury update,
11:46 do you expect Malik, Carr, or
11:48 anybody that was out against Iowa to be back this weekend?
11:53 >> I do.
11:53 [LAUGH] >> So Malik, is Malik one of those?
11:58 >> Yes, yes.
11:59 >> And then with the Rutgers, you faced, obviously,
12:04 their quarterback, Mimsat, and the quarterback, Kyle, last year.
12:09 I guess, what do you take away from that?
12:10 Cuz they both had pretty good games in here.
12:13 >> They're good football players.
12:14 And they truly understand the scheme that Rutgers is running.
12:18 And then Rutgers put them in the position to be able to use their talent to the best
12:23 of their ability.
12:23 So good players, like I said, well-coached team.
12:28 And Coach Sheamus has been doing it for a long time, so they know what they're doing.
12:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]
12:33 >> Coming into the year, cultivating leadership was a big thing we heard around
12:37 the program starting back in January.
12:39 And just trying to find new leaders, development leaders.
12:41 I'm wondering who are those guys that sense the transition when you're in this
12:45 job now, who are those guys that have been good leaders for you?
12:48 And are those guys that you lean on a little more during a bye week,
12:51 just to keep everything?
12:52 >> Good question.
12:53 Trey Mosley, Simeon Barrow, JD Duplaine, Kyle Holliday, Nick Samack.
13:01 Those guys have been doing a tremendous job.
13:04 They're doing a tremendous job.
13:06 Gary Snow is stepping up.
13:08 Now he's coming back.
13:09 So, Jacoby Wendland, we talked about the player that coached that team.
13:16 And those guys are really stepping up.
13:18 And I'm not quite today at the practice,
13:21 there is one of the few minutes with the team himself.
13:24 And he shares some things with them.
13:26 So we stepped away as coaches and let him share.
13:30 And it's something that he had talked to his dad about.
13:33 And he felt like he wanted to share with the team.
13:36 And so that was good, that was good.
13:38 So leadership has stepped up.
13:41 And especially at a time like this, it's very crucial.
13:44 And they're doing it, they're getting it done.
13:46 >> You talked a bit about sort of your mindset for the past few weeks.
13:51 Do your players sort of share that mindset?
13:53 Or how have you seen them handling it?
13:55 >> Yes, cuz I continue to tell them that I feel like we can win every game left on
14:00 our schedule.
14:01 And I truly believe it.
14:03 You can feel a person when they're saying certain things.
14:05 Like me, I'm gonna do what he does.
14:07 And I think they feel me like, that's how I've always been.
14:11 So this is how I am, that's how I'm built.
14:14 And so, and I'm always gonna be that way.
14:17 And so I'm just trying to, and they understand that.
14:21 So they have a mentality of, let's go get it, let's go get it.
14:24 Their mindsets are in a good place right now.
14:27 And we just need to go and accomplish a win, get a win,
14:31 accomplish the task at hand.
14:33 And then when that happens, then we catch momentum, more confidence.
14:37 And then start playing even better.
14:38 >> I have a couple quick ones for you,
14:42 just to harp on the quarterback situation, which I'm sure you appreciate.
14:47 You said it's a good competition, but then you said you just don't want us to know.
14:51 Is the competition over for this week?
14:53 >> Is it over for this week?
14:54 You guys know that twist words run pretty good.
14:56 >> I'm just bringing it right back.
14:57 >> No, it's good, it's good.
14:59 It's a good question, it's a good question.
15:01 Possibly.
15:02 >> Fair enough.
15:04 >> [LAUGH] >> And then to follow up,
15:07 Fred, he said how bad does the team need a win?
15:10 How bad do you need a win?
15:11 >> How bad do I need a win?
15:16 It's more for them, I guess, I know y'all say, well, yeah, right.
15:20 But we all need a win, we all need a win, we all need a win,
15:22 I'm being honest, you know what I mean?
15:24 So yeah, but we get the win, I'm really,
15:29 really fired up for the guys.
15:33 I'm second, third, if you wanna say second, third, fourth, I'm down here.
15:39 But I'm really excited for them, for sure.
15:42 >> You mentioned Jacoby, I guess there's a couple questions with him.
15:50 One, can you discuss his injury that he's out for the season now?
15:57 And two, what is his future?
16:01 I think he has an extra year of eligibility left.
16:04 Would he be able to come back next year for you?
16:07 Or has he discussed his future?
16:09 >> That's a great question.
16:11 No, we haven't really gotten to his future,
16:13 talking about his future moving forward.
16:16 We know he is out for the season.
16:17 And a tremendous young man, he's a good dude.
16:23 Some guys are just good people, he's a good dude, and
16:26 he truly cares about his teammates.
16:28 So we're sure nothing but the best, and we love him still being around.
16:32 Like I mentioned, as a leader, he's still around,
16:34 trying to help out as much as he possibly can.
16:37 So we're glad he's here.
16:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]
16:41 >> Anything else?
16:44 All right, thanks, coach.
16:46 >> Thanks, guys. >> Appreciate it.