Kurt Barber (born January 5, 1969) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

. He became a coach after his playing career.

High school career

Barber prepped at

Paducah Tilghman High School Paducah Tilghman High School is a public secondary school in Paducah, Kentucky. It is the only high school in the Paducah Independent School District. History The school opened at its first location in 1900, and was named Paducah High School, a ...

where he won the Kentucky "Mr. Football" Award in 1987. He was a high school All-American as both wide receiver and linebacker.

College career

Barber graduated with a BA in communications from the University of Southern California, where he was All-Pac-10 as a linebacker. He was a starter as a junior and senior and was a four-year letter winner.

Professional career

Barber was selected with the 42nd pick in the second round of the

1992 NFL draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott M ...

by the

, where he played until 1995. He also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Coaching career

Barber was originally named the UNLV Rebels football linebackers coach in 2004, after having coached at the University of Utah, Kent State and Tennessee-Martin. He began his coaching career in 1998 at Riverside Community College. He was the offensive line coach at Campbellsville University in Kentucky and was the former (2016–17) head coach at Paducah Tilghman High School.

References

1969 births Living people American football linebackers New York Jets players UNLV Rebels football coaches USC Trojans football players Utah Utes football coaches Paducah Tilghman High School alumni Sportspeople from Paducah, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky {{1990s-collegefootball-coach-stub