The thing about marriages these days is that you never know.
Gary Barnett and Northwestern are going into the sixth year of their relationship, and everything appears to be blissful. The Wildcats are coming off back-to-back Big Ten championships. Recruiting has gone especially well. The school is finishing off a $22 million stadium-renovation project.
There have, however, been temptations the last two years. Barnett resisted Notre Dame’s come-hither looks after last season. He has interviewed with Georgia. UCLA wanted him. The Detroit Lions interviewed him. No, no, no, he has said.
But does that mean he won’t get an early case of the seven-year itch?
Asked Thursday whether he could safely say he’ll stay at Northwestern a long time, Barnett said: “I can safely tell you that I really like where I am.”
That didn’t answer the question.
“I know,” he said. “The only thing I can safely say is that I really like where I am. I think that’s all any of us can really do is assess where you are and whether it’s good for you or whether it isn’t good for you. It’s really good for me now.”
Barnett and Northwestern have about as strong an understanding as you can have–a 12-year, $5 million contract they agreed on after the 1995 season. It is believed to be the longest deal in the Big Ten, but it also includes a $500,000 buyout.
Barnett’s future is a topic when he goes on recruiting trips. Teenagers want to know whether he will be coaching them in four years or coaching a $3 million-a-year running back in the NFL.
He will be able to tell them that he is opening a restaurant in Evanston soon, which, if it doesn’t necessarily mean he is staying, at least gives them one more reason to believe he is. He has moved into a new house near Evanston’s lakefront.
“I (tell) them that I signed a 12-year contract and that I asked for a 12-year contract,” he said. “I was offered a shorter contract with no buyout, and I opted for a longer contract with a buyout. . . . It would seem like a guy who was interested in leaving would take the five with no buyout, as opposed to a 12 with a buyout. That seems to satisfy (recruits).”
Will he be NU’s coach for 12 years? “I certainly hope to be if they’ll have me for that long,” he said.
Barnett’s comments follow the pattern he has set the last few years. He says that he’s happy, but that, like any coach, he’ll listen to inquiries from other schools. Turning down Notre Dame overtures “for personal reasons that I’ll keep personal forever”
When he talks to a recruit, he might have to explain his recent history of job interviews.
“I would tell him that I have a responsibility to my family and to myself much like he has when he makes other visits to make sure that what I’m doing is the right thing for my family,” he said.
