Emotions You Don’t See on the Field

Ashay Muirhead, Sports Writer|December 22, 2022

Emotions on the football field are always running high for the Campus Magnet football team. Whether it’s the overwhelming feeling of sadness after a loss, or the profuse bliss after a win, players and their coaches feel heavy emotions watching their hard work pay off. We often watch the players fall and tumble over and over again, making play after play chasing after a win, but we rarely pay attention to the sideline where the coaches look intensely at every single move and play being made. Rarely do we see the relationship the coaches build with their players on and off the football field, in order to prepare them for the game and for the real world. 

Coach Barnett is just one of the few coaches working with these players behind the scenes. Sitting down with him for an interview, I was able to hear not only how he feels about watching his players grow up, but also about how his family and childhood influenced him to choose Campus Magnet. 

Barnett grew up coming in and out of Campus Magnet, which was then known as Andrew Jackson High School. Growing up in Hollis, his father, an educator and pillar of the community, was involved in community programs within the school. Barnett would run around the school playing with friends while his father worked, allowing him to still have scars up until today from childhood memories created here.

His brother also played basketball for Andrew Jackson, contributing to Barnett’s affinity for the school from a young age. At the age of 11, he played football for the Springfield Rifles; he was a small kid at only 5’2″ with a big heart. Even then, he was hard on himself and on and off the field; he held himself to the highest standards.

Throughout his life, he has always been confident.  He attended a historical black College and earned honors while indulging in his passions for criminal justice and art.

Coach Barnett later raised his nephews after returning home. He realized he wanted to be a high school coach while taking them to the Springfield Rifles and coaching them in football.  And from there, I guess the rest is history. 

Coach Barnett, a very passionate coach, has been at his job since 1990 and began coaching at Campus Magnet in 2005.  Practically being on the field with the players for years, he says, “It’s hard to deal with emotional reactions of players as they might not understand that you’re trying to bring more out of them…you have some who walk away and are upset at you and come back later and thank you for the tough love, life lessons.  And some who don’t get over it and dislike you for the rest of their lives.” Coaches are not just trying to win on the field, they’re trying to win off the field. 

Barnett feels sad seeing players leave the team and takes it personally when they don’t win; feeling as if there was something else he could have gotten out of them to get over the finish line. The overall goal for him though, is to get them to graduate. He’s happy seeing former players move on in life.  He states, “It’s sad seeing them go, so you just hope that as they go on in life, they do better than what you did.”

Though the Campus Magnet football team made the playoffs this year, the most surprising thing for them this season was getting all the way to the quarter finals. They responded to the challenges, tried and prevailed, making Coach Barnett proud no matter what.