Portland State football coach Bruce Barnum is known for an everyman persona and the occasional gimmick that feels (for good reason) right out of the playbook of his Vikings predecessor Pokey Allen. But when his newest recruiting class was rated after signing day as the best in the Big Sky Conference and third overall in the Football Championship Subdivision, that suggested something more is underway on the Park Blocks.
Barnum joined host Bill Oram on this week’s episode of Sports by Northwest to discuss what has changed this year within the long-frustrated football program, his simpatico relationship with “big brother” and first-year Athletic Director John Johnson and many of the sort of off-field topics that make “Barny” a regional treasure.
Here are some highlights from this week’s show:
· How staffing changes helped bring in one of PSU’s best recruiting classes in memory
· What it was like growing up in Vancouver when Pokey Allen’s Vikings were the toast of the town — and how that has influenced his Portland State tenure
· Where he thinks an on-campus stadium should go if Portland State ever moves its games back downtown
· Why last year’s loss at Montana carried an extra sting (also known as Cooper Barnum’s betrayal)
· On meeting Tim Boyle for “John Gotti coffee” and hearing from “Phil the shoe guy.”
· How he has coached his teams through an unimaginable amount of tragedy
· If a local sports columnist were instead a football recruit, how would Barnum get him to PSU? The coach gives us his best pitch.
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