High school football gave Mike Barry his first coaching assignment, and the assistant offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions is grateful as he looks back.
The 2008 season marks Barry's third with the Lions. He was the offensive line coach at North Carolina State before coming to Detroit. There, he coached Sean Locklear, who later played in Seattle for the Seahawks' Super Bowl XL team. Locklear was the first North Carolina State offensive lineman since 1992 to earn first-team All-ACC honors as a senior.
Barry also coached at Tennessee, Southern Cal, Colorado, Iowa State, Arizona and Southern Illinois. Along with that, he has coached in 14 bowl games and won two national titles with teams where he was serving as an assistant with Colorado (1990) and Tennessee (1998). He coached 12 players in college who went on to play in the NFL.
Barry played center at Nebraska (1964-66) and at Southern Illinois (1966-69). After three seasons with Southern Illinois, he graduated with a degree in recreation and education. His first coaching job was at Carbondale (Ill.) High School, followed by a stint at Fenwick in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill. He returned to Southern Illinois in 1977 as the team's offensive line coach.
"Fenwick was a very successful high school program in the Chicago Catholic League," Barry said. "High school gave me my first experience in coaching. You learned from the guys you coached."
Along the way, Barry said he learned plenty from coaches on the high school and college level.
"Guys like (head coach) Bo Schembechler and (assistant coach) Jerry Hanlon from Michigan and others took care of me," said Barry, whose son, Joe, is in his second season as defensive coordinator for the Lions. "I learned from those people. A lot of advice I picked up, I got from college."
The elder Barry suggests that high school players and coaches who want to move up to the next level focus on some key factors. High school football, he said, formed the foundation of his coaching career.
"It will come to you if you work hard for it," he said. "It doesn't come if you don't work hard. You're out there to pick up experience and knowledge.
"I've looked to guys like Bo and Jerry to know what I wanted to do."
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.