Things didn’t work out for Kevin Barbay at his previous job. And now, it’s officially his previous job.
On to new things for the former Mississippi State offensive coordinator. He’s now officially free of one of the Southeastern Conference’s weirdest messes from this past season.
For one reason or another, Barbay’s offense just never took off in Starkville. Whether that’s the fault of some sort of internal dysfunction, a mismatch between system and roster, or some form of interference from an outside source, I don’t know.
I do know the man’s offense has worked elsewhere, but it just didn’t work out in Starkville. And I hate to see that.
I like Barbay’s offense from what I’ve seen elsewhere. But with things falling through at MSU, the offensive coordinator from Nederland, Texas will now be looking to move on from the Bulldogs.
I don’t believe Barbay was ever set up to succeed in this job and I wonder what the future holds for him.
Kevin Barbay’s offense is actually pretty good
His time at Appalachian State, though brief, was fun to watch. Sure, the team went 6-6, but you can’t pin that solely on an offense that is scoring 35 points per game and averaging over 450 total yards of offense per game.
On top of that, his offense was able to able to strangle the life out of Texas A&M in a shocking upset win over the Aggies. It wasn’t the most impressive offensive showing ever, the Mountaineers only scored 17 points, but it was the time of possession and Appalachian State’s ability to limit A&M possessions that is pretty interesting here.
I don’t necessarily subscribe to the school of thought that a team should intentionally try to hold onto the ball for as long as possible, but Barbay’s offense had the ball for over 40 minutes of game time when facing the Aggies. That’s incredible. It gained 22 first downs. There were multiple drives of numerous plays that helped steadily bleed the clock dry.
Just look at these possessions:
- 15 plays, 55 yards, missed field goal, 8:09 off the clock
- 13 plays, 38 yards, turnover on downs, 6:04 off the clock (shoutout to Kevin for going for it on 4th down)
- 11 plays, 62 yards, touchdown, 6:22 off the clock
- 18 plays, 63 yards, field goal, 9:15 off the clock
Now, there’s an element of “that reminds me of the IOWA HAWKEYES!” to this sort of approach of winning, and that’s a fair criticism, but it was a (relatively) effective way of cutting into the talent differential that existed between the two teams.
And, you know, it worked for App State.
On top of that, Barbay wasn’t afraid of going for it on 4th down! Against the Aggies, the Mountaineers converted 3 of their 5 attempts on 4th down. He didn’t coach scared.
When Barbay was the offensive coordinator at Central Michigan, the Chippewas also had a productive offense, scoring 32.3 points per game and averaging over 440 total yards of offense per game.
So I wonder about what’s next for Kevin Barbay
Does he move back into the Midwest? What about somewhere in the Sun Belt?Does he return to Texas?
As someone who worked for a couple years in Nebraska, got his master’s degree from Arkansas State, and also returned to his home in the Lone Star State, there’s no shame in being in any of those destinations.
And Barbay is pretty familiar with the Midwest, Sun Belt, and Texas.
He’s someone I want to see thrive. Maybe it’s because I liked the fact that MSU had a Texan running its offense. Maybe it’s because I enjoyed watching Barbay’s offense when he was App State. Maybe it’s because I don’t totally fault him for what happened in Starkville.
And maybe that’s why I’m writing about this here instead of over at Maroon and White Nation, where I can focus on the totality of Barbay’s career, including what’s next.
I don’t know.
I’m disappointed we never got to see Barbay’s offense take off in the SEC. I don’t believe that’s his fault, but I don’t know exactly what caused it. I truly don’t believe he was ever set up to succeed, but I’m not sure who should shoulder the responsibility for that.
Maybe it’s just the fault of some sort of nebulous mess that is intricate and complex and can’t be easily pinned down with just one thing.
I’m really interested in see where Barbay goes next. I intend to keep up with him and seeing how his career progresses because his offense intrigues me. It’s methodical, but he’s not afraid of 4th down attempts.
The man’s resume has shown he can put up a bunch of points or win in a rock fight.
And if he’d ever be interested in chatting and teaching this dumb sports blogger what his offense is supposed to look like, then I’d be all ears and I’m really interested in learning.
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