ALLEN PARK — When Derrick Barnes signed his three-year extension in March with the Detroit Lions, the first call he made was to one of his biggest supporters since the team drafted him in 2021 — his “big brother,” Kelvin Sheppard.
Sheppard was only a few months into his promotion from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, replacing Aaron Glenn, who now coaches the New York Jets. Thrilled to continue his career in a place he didn’t seriously consider leaving, Barnes wanted the coach who had invested so much into him over the previous four years to be around a little bit longer.
“He was ecstatic, man. He was super excited,” Barnes told MLive. “We talked for about an hour about it, and we jumped right into what the defense was going to look like. I was super excited, and he was a huge part of why I wanted to be back here. Obviously (I’m back) because of Brad (Holmes), Dan (Campbell), my teammates, everybody. But Shep is a big, big, big part of that.”
As linebackers coach for the previous four seasons, Sheppard was instrumental in Barnes’ development into one of Detroit’s defensive cornerstones.
One key area Sheppard emphasized was Barnes’ ability to learn multiple spots on the football field — something that was evident last year before a season-ending knee injury cut his campaign short.
Because of that injury and Barnes’ stats not exactly jumping off the page, there were questions about why the Lions quickly re-signed him to a three-year, $25.5 million deal instead of using those resources elsewhere.
As it turns out, Sheppard may have played a role.
“Yeah, you ask Brad (Holmes) what he means to my defense. I said that was a player I had to have. I did,” Sheppard said during his media availability Thursday. “And everybody said, ‘Well, the stats are just average.’ I told him, ‘That’s a player I have to have.’ That is literally my little brother, on and off the field. I know he looks up to me, and that means a lot to me. But outside of that, I believe this kid can play four, five spots on the football field and do it at a high level.
“He can play all three stack backer spots; he can play defensive end. So when you’re able to have a player like that, you see them out in the apex in 11-personnel, which is really a nickel spot. So when you have a player like that, it allows you that ability to present the same looks pre-snap and then post-snap be able to play a different variety of coverages, different variety of pressure packages and things like that.”
To Barnes, the fact that Sheppard — along with Lions brass and the entire organization — wanted him back following his injury was all he needed to see. He knows the NFL is a business and that Detroit could have offered a one-year deal or “sent me off on my way.”
Instead, Sheppard’s words and the “big brother, little brother” bond are not only why Barnes is back in Detroit, but also why he’s playing at such a high level so far.
Because of the faith Sheppard has in him.
While Sheppard has always believed in Barnes, the fifth-year linebacker said their bond really began to grow during his second season — the year Sheppard shifted from outside linebackers coach to leading the entire linebackers unit.
“He used to always call me ‘Baby Ray’ — Baby Ray Lewis and stuff. He brings it up to this day. He’s seen something in me since I first got here,” Barnes said. “And then obviously, when he became the coach my second year, he called me and was like, ‘I’m expecting a lot from you. I think you’re going to be a hell of a player. I’m so excited to be able to coach you,’ and stuff. And then from that year all the way up to now, it’s really been mutual respect between us two.
“He gets on my a** sometimes — a little less now because I’m a little older and more intelligent than I used to be. But no, I feel like I can go to him for anything, whether that’s football-related or family-related. I think that we’ve built a relationship over the years that we’ve been together. And man, I was ecstatic to see him get the (defensive coordinator) job. And man, the sky’s still the limit for him.”
Sheppard’s impact on Barnes has been just as vital off the field. Barnes said that when needed, Sheppard can be a “helping hand,” someone he can easily talk to and confide in, a coach that “people are not scared to go to.”
But even in that vein, Barnes stressed his coordinator remains professional in how he handles those situations.
He also noted the importance of that type of relationship between player and coach, and how it has been instrumental in his development.
“He’s just a guy you can trust. You know if you tell him something, he’s going to keep it to himself, which is big for me as far as respect and things like that,” Barnes said. “I think we just have a lot of respect for each other.
That mutual trust has shaped the way Sheppard coaches him, and it’s also shaped the way Barnes responds to that coaching.
“I think when the coach knows you, knows how you learn, knows what you need to work on and get better at, I think that just allows them to push you even more. I mean, he knows me. He knows how I want to be coached. He knows how I respond to things. That means a lot to me. Even he knows me — I’m the type of guy I don’t really need it. Sometimes yelling gets me going, but he also knows that I’m going to do my job. So, if I mess up, he knows I’ve got it.
“And that’s what I like about him, and I love the way he coaches me. He knows — even with other players too — how to coach me, when I need to be lifted up, when he needs to get on my a**. And I respect that. He always holds me accountable for everything. He knows my potential, so he’s never going to let me do anything under that.”