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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 6, 2019

Matt Barnes

Columbus, Ohio

Q. I asked all these guys this: What was the most appealing part of Ryan Day's sales pitch and wanting to come join here?
MATT BARNES: Well, it's a special place. You know, winningest football program in college football history, and just so much tradition. A chance to compete for a championship every year, but also to be a part of, for lack of a better way to put it, doing things the right way, developing young men, giving them an opportunity to be successful in the classroom, on the field, and then the years that they spend after they're done playing football.

Q. I know it's pretty early days for you guys getting together as that defensive staff, but what's the dynamic like because it seems like there's a lot of shared responsibilities from you and Jeff in the secondary in particular.
MATT BARNES: Sure, it's been great so far. I had the opportunity to work with Coach Mattison in the past, so I can't tell you how much football I learned from Coach during that experience. A lot of smart people in the room, and I think Coach Hafley mentioned it before, but it's the full-time staff members all the way down to the GA's and the QC's, and no idea is a bad idea, and when the door is closed, a lot of opinions are being talked through, and at the end of the day, we make a decision and we go full speed ahead with it.

But the dynamic has been awesome so far, and for me as a little bit younger coach, it's been afforded me the opportunity to learn from some great minds, so it's been -- so far it's been unbelievable.

Q. As the special teams coordinator, what's kind of your philosophy to how to be successful on special teams? Is there anything specific you're trying to drill into these players?
MATT BARNES: Well, just trying to continue to develop and continue to cultivate the importance of special teams, which has been phenomenal here. It's been done at the highest level here. So that's already in place. So just continuing to develop that is a big part of it.

Keeping in mind we're going to play our best players on special teams, and I think the thing that I hope to maybe shed a little bit more light on or bring to the forefront a little bit more is -- it's really not just special teams. When you're teaching the kicking game, obviously the things that the punters, the kickers, the holders and the snappers, the specialists do are a little bit different, but beyond that, it's really just general fundamentals of playing the game of football.

Q. When Urban Meyer was here, he was really involved in special teams himself and it was a really collaborative effort with all the coaches involved. Do you see it being similar here where every coach is going to have a part in what you guys do on special teams?
MATT BARNES: For sure, and again, I think that's a big part of the culture is that all the coaches have been brought in in the past, and I expect that to continue. Alluding to GC's and QC's again, I think I've got the best one in the country. Parker Fleming was very involved last year in game planning and the day-to-day things, and we've been fortunate to keep him here, and I can already tell what a bright young mind he is.

But definitely input from the staff, guys being bought in and coaching those special teams periods as hard as they would coach their position indy work or whatever it may be, expect that to continue.

Q. In terms of the secondary, will the corners and safeties being in the meeting rooms together or will they be coached separately?
MATT BARNES: I would defer to Coach Hafley on that. Coach Hafley and I both feel strongly that in the secondary, I think sometimes as much as as coaches we all want to be involved and we all want to have input, I think sometimes you've got to be careful about having too many voices in the secondary. There's so much communication that goes on between the corners and the safeties and the nickels and everything else that if they're hearing it, even just literal little things and verbiage and things like that, if it's not said on the same -- if everybody is not on the same page in the back end, that's how you see catastrophe on the back end.

I expect to play off of each other a little bit. I can't tell you how excited I am to learn from Coach Hafley. I've learned a ton of back-end play already just in the short time that we've spent together.

Q. As it was mentioned before, Urban Meyer basically called himself the special teams coach when he was here, so this is a little bit of a change it feels like for Ohio State. What's the advantage of having an assistant sort of with that title that you have? And they've had a guy sometimes in the past who have had that title, but why is this setup maybe the right way to go?
MATT BARNES: Well, you know, the head coach wears so many hats, and there will be many things that come across his desk that will thankfully never be anywhere near mine. It affords me the opportunity to really dive headfirst in it with minimal distractions.

Q. You talked about playing with your best players on special teams, but generally those players are guys with a track record. Special teams can be a proving ground for players that want more playing time. Can you talk about the balance you need to strike there, you want your best players on the field and yet that's a way young guys can earn PT?
MATT BARNES: Absolutely, you make a great point, and I think you've got to find that happy medium there of playing your best players but also giving your young players a chance to develop and show themselves.

I think a lesson I've learned the hard way in the past is that you're coaching everybody in that room, and although that guy may not be a starter for you on punt team, the first week of training camp, but it's a war of attrition in the Big Ten. It's a long season, and it's a physical, physical league. So you've got to get everybody in your room ready to play.

I think the other thing about special teams is it's not as involved from an Xs and Os standpoint, so where you may have to get a position player really coached up on all the intricacies of what you're asking them to do that fits within your offensive or defensive scheme, on special teams there are some little things, scheme things here and there, but at the end of the day, we say it's technique and effort. We'll get those guys right on their technique early on and just watch them go play with their hair on fire. Definitely gives those young guys an opportunity to do something that they understand more quickly than maybe something at their offensive or defensive position and a chance to go show what they can do.

Q. Since you said that's a lesson you learned the hard way, I hate to bring up bad memories, but it sounds like there were occasions where that struck home with you. Can you tell us about those times?
MATT BARNES: Yes, ma'am, even just this past season, if you looked at -- was it the University of Maryland? If you looked at the starting punt team there in training camp, I don't think other than the punter and the snapper, I don't think there was a single guy that made it through the whole season.

Again, you've got to understand that you certainly want those guys that are starting for you to be as sharp as they can be, but again, everybody needs to understand they're a rolled ankle away from being in the game.

Q. Coach, as you look at Ohio State's defense and you talked to Ryan Day before you took the job, what needs to be fixed compared to a year ago? Obviously you got to see them up close in one game, et cetera. What stood out that needed to be shored up?
MATT BARNES: You know, I think sometimes -- and having not been here, that's a difficult question to answer. I'm just viewing it from the outside looking in. My general thoughts on when things aren't going the way that you'd like them to go, I think you've got to look at how much you're asking your players to do. Are you asking them to do too much, and again, I wasn't here, so I can't speculate on if that was the case or not.

But I think you really want to spend your time on coaching the little things and making sure your guys are lined up correctly, their eyes are in the right place, they're playing in good football stances, their fundamentals are right, the communication is right on the back end, and I think if you're having issues, I think that's the first place to start, go back to the basics, look at fundamental football, are we leveraged properly, are our eyes in the right place, are we tackling the way we want our guys to tackle. General football.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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