Rick Barnes has been coaching college basketball for 49 years, the vast majority of which have been spent as a head coach in the sport's power conferences. He's been a fixture in Tennessee athletics and the men's basketball program for so long as to be boringly familiar.
So when Isaac Fowler, a senior producer for VFL Films and part-time lecturer at Tennessee's school of media and journalism, settled on Barnes as the subject for his 400-level sports documentary production class's capstone project, he had to stray from the 861 wins, seven conference titles and 30 NCAA Tournament appearances on his coaching resume.
"This is the first ever sit down interview with (Barnes) and his wife, Candy and their two children (Nick and Carley). So we felt like
we had a fresh perspective," Fowler told Knox News. "We were hopeful that we'd be able to speak with Coach and his family. Obviously those parts of it worked out, which I think really give this like a unique look and insight into his life.”
The result is "It's Not About Me," a 35-minute deep dive into the life of the 72-year-old Barnes, which premieres July 30 at 7:30 p.m. on the Tennessee Athletics YouTube channel. Fowler led a team of nine undergraduate and two graduate students as they explored the long-time coach's personal life and journey from his hometown in Hickory, North Carolina, through decades of coaching all the way to his current home in Knoxville.
Beyond his extensive success on the court, there is a story of self-transformation that Fowler and a team of Tennessee students set out to tell through exclusive interviews with Barnes, his family and a host of former players and colleagues.
Fowler has earned two degrees from Tennessee and spent large parts of his undergraduate career working in and around the athletic department with VFL Films. He was familiar with Barnes' basketball story, but it wasn't until he heard the long-time Vols coach speak at charity event in early 2025 that he realized there was more to his life than what shows up on the sidelines during gameday.
He provided support and guidance and liaised with the athletic department and university for his students, but Fowler left the creative decisions up to his students. And once he passed the baton, students quickly found direction for their project.
Allie Campbell, a journalism major who graduated from Tennessee in May who helped produce "Its Not About Me," estimated she and her classmates spent anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week outside of class putting together the documentary, including travel to Barnes' hometown of Hickory, North Carolina, and his old stomping grounds in Texas as coach of the Longhorns for interviews.
“It seemed daunting at first, but it became pretty easy as we started talking to more and more of his close family and friends," Campbell said. "His story just started to develop. ... The more we got to talk to people around him and so we started to realize a lot more about his childhood and where he came from and the struggles he had to go through to get to where he is as a person and a coach.”
In those conversations with family members and former players, Campbell and her classmates found Barnes to be goofy at times, intense at others and always committed to his faith. Barnes was also introspective about moments when his commitment to winning on the court took away from what mattered most off it.
"He really felt like he had to do it himself and he was pushing people away, isolating himself and really overvaluing this success. Then there was a wake up call that you’ll learn more about in the documentary that kind of made him realize it's not about me, there’s a bigger picture, you need people to support you through this."
Fowler said "It's Not About Me" is a first of its kind collaboration between Tennessee's communications arm, Vols athletics and students in the school of media and journalism. It served as professional training for students who produced the documentary and a valuable piece of creative content for the men's basketball program.
"It's just such a great opportunity for them to make something that's real," Fowler said. "I tell them at the beginning of the semester and really preach this to them every week: the reason this work is worth doing is because it means something to somebody. ... It's just a great story about transformation and getting a second chance in life.”
Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Tennessee basketball fans can learn from Rick Barnes documentary
