As a player, Barnett was a four-year letter-winner as a defensive back for Michigan State University, serving as team captain and earning All-America honors during his senior year, and spent seven seasons in the National Football League.
[1] Barnett was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was a standout athlete at Princeton High School.
Barnett earned a full athletic scholarship to play football at Michigan State University.
In Barnett's sole season as a GA at LSU, the Tigers won the 2004 Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship Game).
[5] The following season, Barnett was hired as defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati under Mark Dantonio.
In Barnett's first 11 seasons in East Lansing, the Spartans were 100–45 with three Big Ten Conference championships (2010, 2013, 2015) and were selected for the College Football Playoff in 2015.
[1] Barnett also spent two seasons as defensive coordinator at Florida State University under Willie Taggart.
Ultimately, his time was cut short at Florida State after Taggart's head coaching contract was bought out early.
[1] For Michigan State University, Barnett has coached 10 Spartan defensive backs who have been selected in the NFL Draft, two of whom were first-round picks (Darqueze Dennard, No.