Brody Barnum cannot help himself.
As the starting quarterback for the Skyview football team, he wants to play to the best of his ability, to learn as much about the game as he can.
So yes, he does seek out the advice from a man who does not coach at his school.
“He doesn’t want to be my coach. He just wants to be my dad,” Brody Barnum acknowledges.
However, his dad happens to be in charge of a Division I college program.
Bruce Barnum is the head coach at Portland State. After years as an assistant coach at Idaho State and Cornell and then PSU, Bruce was given his first shot at being a head coach last year.
When considering there is only one Division I college football program within a relatively easy commute from Vancouver, it is probably safe to say that Brody Barnum is the first high school quarterback in Clark County whose dad is the current head coach at a D-I program.
Brody would be crazy not to take advantage, to ask for help.
But Brody and Bruce both say that Bruce only gives his son football advice when Brody initiates the conversation.
“He knows Kize,” Brody said, referring to Skyview coach Steve Kizer. “He lets Kize coach me. Every once in a while, he’ll give me a tip. But he tries to be a dad more than a coach.”
However they deal with the unique situation, it is working.
Brody Barnum helped Skyview reach the Class 4A state playoffs a year ago before the Storm lost an epic battle against county rival Camas. Those two teams play each other Friday night.
Regardless of the results on Friday nights, Sundays are used by the Barnum family to reconnect.
“I love it,” Brody said of being the son of a college coach. “But it’s tough. Very tough at times. During the season, I’ll see him on Sundays. Monday through Friday, he’s working late, leaving early.”
Of course, there are those special Friday nights when the schedule works out perfectly for the Barnum family. If Portland State has a home game, Bruce takes full advantage of his position.
“My biggest perk as a head coach is my team knows — and they support me — that if we are home Friday nights, I go watch Brody,” Bruce Barnum said. “As an assistant, I couldn’t do that.”
He would have been out recruiting, going to different games. Not this year, not Brody’s senior season.
“I’ll give him a hug after the game,” Brody said of those Fridays. “He says stuff that every kid’s dad will say. That’s what I love about it. He doesn’t put any pressure on me. He’s my dad. Always there for me.”
Then on Sunday mornings, Brody will ask his dad to go over his performance.
Bruce said he never wants to be seen as that guy in the stands who is critical of the coaches.
“My wife and I will never be Little League parents,” Bruce said. “He’s got his coaches. I’m not his coach.”
Brody describes living with his dad as “extra coaching.” Not just for football. Brody has grown up around college football, around college-age players dealing with life’s struggles and victories. Brody has watched his dad deal with heartache off the field with these young men.
Brody said he has learned important life skills at an early age.
Bruce said any parent wants to have open communication with their children. Brody and younger brother Cooper, a freshman at Skyview, and their parents use football as a tool.
“It’s a fun way for us to communicate, through sports,” Bruce said. “Then they can ask about anything else in life, too.”
It all starts with football.
“He’s always been able to teach me the right way to play,” Brody said. “You either play the right way or you don’t play at all. It’s not only effort, but the mental side of the game matters. Be respectful. Be coachable.”
Bruce teaches his children that as well as his players at PSU, which made last year even more enjoyable for the Barnum family.
Portland State had a magical season going 9-3, beating Washington State and reaching the Football Championship Series playoffs for just the second time.
“Just getting to see him get his chance, his opportunity, and then to make the most of it,” Brody said. “He did everything he had planned for, for all this time.”
As far as Brody’s progress in sports, it is Week 6 of his final high school football season, and the Storm are hoping for a four-week push to make the playoffs again.
“It’s really everything you could ever wish for,” Brody said. “(I am) the quarterback at the greatest school in Washington, in my opinion. The teachers are exceptional. The coaches are the hardest working in the state. The kids I play with every day, they’re my brothers.
“And I get the opportunity, I guess, to lead them. Being part of it, what we have going, it’s a dream. Not much more you could ask for.”
Perhaps a win over Camas would make it better for Brody and the Storm?
“We knew we were one, two plays away from making it our game,” he said of last year’s playoff loss to the Papermakers.
Skyview is 3-2 this season, but with losses against Eastside Catholic and O’Dea, among the best teams in the state. Brody Barnum said that type of challenge has prepared the Storm for yet another obstacle — this game against Camas.
“If we are doing exactly what we need to do, we’re a pretty good football team,” Brody said.
Months from now, Brody Barnum, who also excels in baseball, will have a big decision to make. If he does play college baseball, he said he will be going to Washington State. But football remains a possibility.
“I don’t really want to make a decision until after (high school) football,” Brody said. “I want to enjoy football and get everything out of it that I can.”
And no matter what happens on Fridays, Brody will have Sunday mornings with his dad, to watch a game together, to get some feedback, and just talk about life.
