Matt Barnes (born May 27, 1986) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He is the co-

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

and

safeties Safety is the condition of being protected against harmful conditions or events, or the control of hazards to reduce risk. Safety may also refer to: Places * Safety Island, Antarctica Government * The Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating t ...

coach for

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

, positions he has held since 2024. He previously served as the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

and defensive coordinator for

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

Playing career

Barnes played linebacker for Salisbury University. Barnes played Tailback and Safety for the Urbana Hawks during their then State record 50 game win streak. Becoming, along with Billy Gaines and Eric Lenz, one of the only Sophomores to make the start for Dave Carruthers at Urbana.

Coaching career

Barnes began his coaching career in 2009 as the running backs coach for

Delaware Valley University Delaware Valley University (DelVal) is a private university in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1896, it enrolls approximately 2,178 students on its suburban, 570-acre campus. DelVal offers more than 28 undergraduate majors, 12 master's prog ...

. In 2010, he coached running backs

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,055 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of ...

. In 2011, Barnes served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for West Virginia Wesleyan. Barnes got his first coaching opportunity at the Division I level as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. He held this role from 2012-2014. In 2015, he joined the staff at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

as a defensive analyst. From 2016-2018, he served as linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

Ohio State

In 2019, Barnes accepted a job on Ryan Day's staff at Ohio State as assistant secondary coach and special teams coordinator. Prior to the 2020 season, Barnes was given the title of safeties coach and special teams coordinator. Barnes was then named the secondary coach on February 3, 2021. Following defensive struggles for the Buckeyes in the beginning of the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs was stripped of defensive play calling duties, which were given to Barnes.

Memphis

On January 1, 2022, it was reported that Barnes would become the defensive coordinator at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Matt 1986 births Living people American football linebackers Salisbury Sea Gulls football players Delaware Valley Aggies football coaches West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats football coaches Florida Gators football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Maryland Terrapins football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches