Thomas Barber has already signed with the Gophers and will enroll early at the U.
Thomas Barber, a 6-foot-1, 235-pound linebacker from Robbinsdale (MN) Armstrong, committed to Minnesota in the spring, following in the footsteps of his football family. Barber is the son of former Gopher standout Marion Barber and the younger brother of ex-Minnesota stars Marion III and Dom and signed with Minnesota and will enroll in January and will be able to participate in spring practice.
Gopher Hole recently caught up with Barber after he was named to the Minnesota Vikings’ All-State team.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, a terrific honor being named to the Minnesota Vikings’ All-State team. You had several similar honors being named to the Kare-11 and Star Tribune All-Metro teams. How pleased are you to get these types of acknowledgments from a terrific senior season?
Thomas Barber: It feels so great. I am just honored to be recognized like this for my season. I am very honored, is all I can really say. I don’t know how to describe it.
Gopher Hole: Does it make even more special being named here at TCF Stadium, where you are going to be playing next season?
Thomas Barber: Oh yeah, this is cool, too. This is a great environment, plus with all the people watching. I was talking to some guys like “Dang, they are a lot of people here,” so it is pretty cool.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, there have been some changes with Coach Kill retiring. What was your reaction when you heard the news?
Thomas Barber: We were all devastated. We were devastated. That was the guy that we were looking forward to playing for, but we knew that was the right choice for him and his family. We are okay with that. We are hoping that he gets better. Coach Claeys took over and he is really trying to change this program and has made some changes on his own. It shows that he wants to win football games.
Gopher Hole: I know that you had a good relationship with Coach Claeys as a defensive coordinator and he is a defensive guy. What was your reaction when you heard that he was going to be the full-time head coach?
Thomas Barber: We were really ecstatic, especially the defensive guys. We were just excited and know that he is going to do big things for us and help us take the program a step farther than it even was.
Gopher Hole: To be honest, Armstrong had not had a lot of success recently (they were 0-9 Barber’s sophomore season and 3-6 last year) and you had the best record in nearly 20 years. How pleased were you with some of the things that you accomplished?
Thomas Barber: We were very, very pleased with all that we accomplished. There were no words. Our coach said even after our last game, “You guys should be proud of yourselves. You did a lot for this program” and we really thought about it and realized “Yes, we did.” We were sad, but we did a lot to shake up the program. We were excited afterwards and at the banquet, we thought “We did a lot and just glad that we got Armstrong football back on the map.”
Gopher Hole: What things are you working on now that the season is over to get ready for college football?
Thomas Barber: I have just been lifting and just running. That is really it. Trying to get all my work in for school.