Jason Barnett never failed to be excited for the game as an assistant football coach. Not once.
“(He has) lots of experience and lots of energy,” said Fluvanna athletic director Scott Morris. “Watching him on the sidelines just makes people in the stands energetic as well.”
Odds are good it won’t be a problem as a head coach either.
Barnett was named Fluvanna County’s interim head coach Monday a year after he was a finalist for the same opening in 2009. The defensive coordinator was elevated to the top spot after Rodney Redd left the Flucos after a single year at the helm. Barnett takes over a program that appeared to be headed in the right direction last year, and continuing that upward trajectory is a top priority for Barnett.
“I think Coach Redd did a great job getting this program started in the right direction,” Barnett said. “We both had some of the same ideals and the same principles, but I have my own thoughts and ideas too of where I’d like to see things and we’re going to do those right off the bat.”
Morris and the rest of the Fluvanna administration gave Barnett the interim tag for a couple of reasons.
“We were looking to fill the role as quickly as possible and keep as much continuity as possible,” Morris said. “Then we’ll evaluate it at the end of year.”
Barnett went to Western Albemarle, playing football under former head coach Billy Haun while also excelling at baseball and basketball. He returned to the school after graduating from Longwood as a math teacher and assistant football coach before becoming the Warriors’ head girls basketball coach. He led Western’s girls basketball team to a share of the regular season Jefferson District title in 2008 before making the move to Fluvanna where he became the defensive coordinator and assisted head coach Chad White in girls basketball.
Now he’s got exactly what he wanted, a head coaching spot after several years in different roles as a coordinator, junior varsity head coach and assistant. Barnett has been involved in every aspect of the game, working a big chunk of his career under current Waynesboro coach Steve Isaacs at Western. Isaacs is a big proponent and practitioner of the single wing, an offensive system developed by legendary coach Pop Warner that has seen a revival in the last few years, but Fluvanna won’t be switching over to the single wing immediately — Barnett’s wife will see to that.
“I joked with her and said ‘we’re putting in the single wing the first week’ and she said ‘if you put in the single wing the first week I’ll be up in the stands yelling at you,” Barnett said. “But we face Steve Isaacs in the scrimmage and he may see a mirror reflection for a play or two.”
Throwing in a wrinkle of a formation fits for Barnett though. The Flucos’ new head coach understands that even though there are times to get down to business, there has to be an element of fun to sports.
“We’re going to enjoy what we’re doing,” Barnett said. “That’s a very big thing for me.”
