North Carolina State University Athletics
Game Program Spotlight: Lamart Barrett
9/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Of all the things that NC State coach Chuck Amato tells his players on a daily basis, the thing senior wide receiver Lamart Barrett likes best is when the coach tells his charges “the best ability is dependability.”
It’s clearly something that the reliable Barrett the only senior in a youth-dominated receiver corps has taken to heart over the last three years, in which he has made 15 career starts and put in the time to develop a quarterback’s knowledge of the offensive playbook.
The native of Miami Springs, Fla., begins his senior season today against Appalachian State with a short list of goals primarily to score his first career touchdown and add to his total of 50 career receptions but an overall philosophy that should help the Wolfpack’s passing game.
“My goal for this year is simple: Do whatever it takes to help our team win as many games as possible and set a good example for the younger guys,” Barrett said.
“I just tell them to be dedicated and stay focused. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs, everyone can’t come in and play as a freshman and get a whole bunch of snaps and make a whole bunch of plays.
“I tell them to be patient, that when your opportunity comes, take advantage of it.”
Barrett speaks from experience. He had to wait an extra semester before he could enroll at NC State, after graduating from Miami Springs High School in the spring of 2002. He arrived in Raleigh in time to join the Wolfpack’s preparations for the 2003 Gator Bowl against Notre Dame.
By the time the 2003 season began the following September, Barrett was anxious to contribute. He made his first career start against Wake Forest that season, and moved back into the starting lineup in the sixth game of his sophomore season, starting 13 games in a row in one stretch.
The last two seasons, Barrett has been the Wolfpack’s fourth leading receiver, catching 24 passes in 2004 and 21 last season.
One thing has eluded him, however: getting into the end zone.
It’s a bit of a sore spot for an on-field talker like Barrett, who mentions his inability to score as his most embarrassing moment in the Wolfpack media guide. So he’s desperate to erase that goose-egg in the touchdowns column.
“The cornerbacks are on me all the time, because I am out there trash-talking,” Barrett said with a grin. “People are always bringing it up You haven’t even scored a touchdown.’
“I’ll be happy to get that out of the way, to shut all of that up.”
It’s not that he hasn’t been close, most recently at Florida State, where he caught a pass that was a tad behind him and was unable to keep his balance.
“I watch that tape over and over and think, if only I had kept my balance, I could have walked into the end zone,” Barrett said. “There have been a lot of other times that I have been open and not gotten the ball for a lot of reasons.
“The coaches are always telling me I just have bad luck, that it is just not my time.”
But they do expect that time to come, based on his experience and his knowledge of the offense.
Twice named the team’s most dependable receiver and once named the most improved receiver following spring drills, Barrett is looking for 2006 to be a break-out season, both for him and for the receiving corps.
With three steady veterans Brian Clark, Tramain Clark and Sterling Hicks gone from wide receiver and the team’s leader in receptions, tight end T.J. Williams, all gone, there’s not much experience returning in the passing game.
So, since last season ended, Barrett has taken on the role of leader among the young pass catchers. He was the one pushing guys like John Dunlap and converted tailback Darrell Blackman during off-season conditioning, leading by example during spring drills and rounding up everyone for off-season skeleton drills during the summer.
He enjoys the responsibility of being a leader.
“It kind of forces me to do the right thing all the time, because I know I have a lot of young guys watching me,” Barrett said. “What I want to do is set a good example for them. Being in a leadership role keeps me on track and keeps me with a positive attitude. It helps me carry myself in a positive way.”
Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato and Barrett’s teammates have taken notice.
“He’s a very good leader,” Amato said. “He is a man who knows it inside out and he is always there happen. I think the seniors have to be the ones who lead the team.”
Junior quarterback Marcus Stone always gets praise from his coaches for knowing the play-book inside and out. But he says Barrett is just as knowledgeable.
“He’s like another coach out there on the field,” Stone said. “If there is a guy on the field confused, he helps me a lot because he can tell that person what to do.
“Lamart knows the whole playbook just as well as I do. He’s great to have on the field and he is a dependable receiver. I know if I have him one-on-one and I put the ball in his area, it will be a completion.”
Blackman, who is still learning the position, can testify to that point. Barrett is always helping him remember all the little things and some of the big ones that he has to do on every play.
“I just try to come out and follow his lead everyday, because he has the game experience and he pretty much knows the offense inside and out like the quarterbacks do,” Blackman said. “That is one thing I try to do is follow his lead and listen to what he says.’
Of course, as the only senior receiver on the squad, the 23-year-old Barrett has to put up with a lot of “Old Man” jokes.
“They call me Daddy,’ or Coach Barrett,’ or Coach Summer’ because I have been teaching the all the young guys in the summer. But they listen, because they are thinking He has been around here forever.’”
The Wolfpack will likely be leaning on a bunch of fresh faces in the passing games. Barrett has the most experience, followed by Dunlap, who is coming off an injury plagued sophomore campaign, followed by Blackman, who had 15 catches out of the backfield as a tailback last year.
Some of the players who have caught Barrett’s eyes during the summer and during preseason workouts include redshirt freshman Geron James, true freshman Jarvis Williams, and Donald Bowens, all of whom have a size advantage over Barrett.
But they are still the right size to fit under his wing, just as he was with NC State all-time pass receptions leader Jericho Cotchery.
“From being here so long, I remember what the older guys in the offense always taught me,” Barrett said. “When you come in, you think you know so much. You come to college you find out you really don’t know much at all. I know from their standpoint, what they need to know, what they don’t know, what they think they know.
“Having been there, it makes it easier to explain to them, talk to them and teach them.”
Barrett remembers just how green he was when he arrived in Raleigh, despite spending half a year at Old Avon Farms Prep school in Connecticut, where he caught 29 passes and scored 10 touchdowns as a receiver and returned one kickoff return for a touchdown. Before that, he played both quarterback and wide receiver at Miami Springs High School in Miami.
He came to Raleigh to help continue the passing tradition established by Philip Rivers and his favorite target, Cotchery. But as much as he wanted to get out of Miami, he also wanted to be around some familiar faces.
“I felt that if I was going to go to an out-of-state school, I might as well go to a school that had a lot of Florida guys on the roster, a lot of guys I felt comfortable with,” Barrett said. “Also, when I was coming out, Phil was here and they had an offense that was spreading four or five players out.
“I felt like the program was on the rise and I wanted to come help make a difference.”
He’s been homesick on occasion, mostly for the ability to walk down the street to his grandmother’s house to grab a bowl of seafood gumbo or a plate of her special lasagna, his favorite dish.
“Anytime I want, I can walk down the street and get something to eat and see my family,” Barrett said. “When I got here, it wasn’t like that. I can’t go get that good cooking she always has and see my mom and dad.
“My teammates are my family here, but it is not exactly the same.”
Oh, he’s found enough places that serve good lasagna Amedeo’s on Western Boulevard has the best in town, he says. He has even learned to make it himself, the first real meal he ever learned to make on his own. (His secret ingredient? Lots and lots of cheese.)
As he completes his work in Sports Management, Barrett said he is eager to get started on his final season at NC State. He knows that many eyes will be watching what the receivers do, both from the stands and from the opposing sidelines.
And he’s proud that Amato and the offensive staff are counting on him to be the leader to inspire a host of young, inexperienced players.
He’s ready for the challenge.
“I think we are going to have to prove ourselves,” Barrett said. “A lot of teams are going to load it up in the box and blitz to test the offensive line. Defenses are going to think that we have only one veteran guy, that we have so many young guys, that we will be more conservative and not throw the ball.
“We have to prove to some people that we can throw the ball and you need to back the safeties up or you are going to get burned over the top.”
Perhaps they will even give up a touchdown to the “Old Man” of the Wolfpack receiving corps.
