Barnes missed spring practice with Alabama because of a knee injury and made the decision to transfer from the SEC school earlier this month.

"I didn't want to sit out a year. I had scholarship offers from other Division I schools, but I didn't want to sit and then wait to play," Barnes said.

The NCAA permits players to transfer from a I-A school to a I-AA school without sitting out a year.

McBride said he plans on naming a starter after two-a-days, in mid-August, after fall practice has begun.

"He's a mature guy, and he'll learn our offense really fast," McBride said. "He'll be in the middle of the mix right away."

After redshirting at Alabama in 2005, Barnes became the team's backup midway through the 2006 season. He threw his first collegiate pass in a 38-3 win over Florida International, when he completed 6 of 11 passes for 45 yards and one touchdown.

"I am just going to go in and compete," Barnes said. "I wasn't promised anything, and I didn't ask for anything."

About starting, he said, "I expect to start, and I expect to win."

Barnes' decision to transfer drew national attention because of comments made by his father, John Barnes, to The Birmingham News about the way Alabama coach Nick Saban treated players.

John Barnes said his son didn't want to play at Alabama because of the way Saban verbally treated players. Saban said that's not what the quarterback told him.

"There was a lot of stuff going on, I think, and some of that stuff had to do with Saban," McBride said.

A former high school teammate of WSU defensive end Kevin Linehan, Barnes declined to comment about the reasons he left Alabama.

"I'm here at Weber State now, and I don't want to worry about the past," he said.

In his senior year at Los Alamitos High School in California, Barnes threw for 2,615 yards and 37 touchdowns, with just 10 interceptions. He played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, completing 7 of 13 passes for 117 yards to lead the West team to a 35-3 win over the East squad.