See, every morning since who knows when, Barmann has awakened early, headed into the kitchen and put together a gem of a lunch for wife Ashley before she leaves for work. He does it right: a turkey and cheese sandwich. A Nutri-Grain bar. Some Cheez-Its. (“Every once in a while she gets one of those Easy Mac bowls, too,” Barmann says proudly).

But with a new job now under way – the hours of which will not lend themselves to culinary practices – Barmann is hoping Ashley will step in and fill the role.

“I think that might be something I can talk her into,” he says.

Whether he is successful in that endeavor, Barmann, who played quarterback at Kansas University from 2003 to 2006, is hoping to contribute to a Firebirds team coming off a 7-3 season in ’07.

Richard Gwin

After graduating from KU in ’06 with a major in sports management and a minor in business, Barmann spent the next two years working at a local golf course and recreation center and contemplating his next move. He’d always been interested in the prospect of coaching, and when the assistant position opened up at Free State, he got on the phone with Firebirds head coach Bob Lisher.

“I had been thinking about it for a while, and I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do,” says Barmann, a graduate of West Platte High in Missouri. “But I figured this was something I needed to give a shot.”

Lisher, seeing an opportunity to provide his quarterback corps with a battle-tested resource, offered him the position.

And based on a week’s worth of practice, the decision seems to be going swimmingly.

“He played quarterback his entire life, so he knows the position,” says Lisher. “He knows the drills. He’s been through the fire. I think the experience he brings as a player will help our guys out tremendously.”

The players, meanwhile, many of who grew up watching him play on Saturday afternoons in the fall, seem to have taken to him, as well.

“He’s young enough where he can kind of connect with us,” said Cameron Schmidt, who is currently battling for the Firebirds’ starting quarterback spot.

And, apparently, vice versa.

Asked whether receivers have complained about sore hands as a result of Barmann’s passes, Schmidt quipped, “Maybe mine, but not Barmann’s.”

So far, the Firebirds’ newest coach seems to be loving his new positions. The para job is treating him well, he says, as is the switch from the field to the sideline.

It seems the only thing that hasn’t gone quite according to plan – yet, anyway – is a certain lunch-making arrangement he hoped to spring following the start of his new job.

“It’s starting to work,” Barmann said during a break in Thursday afternoon’s practice. “But I’m still making the turkey sandwiches.”