Veteran mentor Leon Burtnett to coach Griz safeties
2/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 23, 2012
Veteran football mentor Leon Burtnett has been selected to coach the safeties at The University of Montana, announced third year Griz head coach Robin Pflugrad.
Burtnett has been in the coaching profession almost five decades, and began his career at the high school level, coaching preps from 1965-68. He moved to the college ranks in 1969, and coached at that level from 1969-86, with stints at seven different colleges. He was the head coach at Purdue from 1982-86.
He was the running backs coach and offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colt from 1987-91. He then rejoined the college ranks, making stops at Fresno State, Northeast Louisiana, Arkansas State, and Washington State.
Most recently he concluded his fourth season at the University of Houston, and served as the Director of Player Personnel and Quality Control there in 2011. He coached the linebackers at UH from 2008-10.
"I think Leon will bring a lot of energy to our entire staff and football program," Pflugrad said. "He's been in the coaching profession a long time and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience immediately into our program. I think he we will bring that onto the practice fields and onto the game field on Saturday afternoons.
"We were able to coach together for a few years at Washington State, and I really had a lot of respect for Leon," Pflugrad said. "He is an excellent recruiter, as well as a football coach. He has a lot of energy in recruiting. He has some ties not only to the West Coast, but also to the Mid-West and the state of Texas.
"We feel fortunate to get him," Pflugrad said. "He was most recently at the University of Houston, so again he does have some geographical ties that could possibly help us and strengthen our recruiting efforts."
He spent his first three seasons at UH as the linebackers coach. Burtnett came to UH in December 2007 after five seasons at Washington State.
Burtnett grew up in Meade, Kansas, graduated from Southwestern College in Kansas and coached for four years in the Kansas high school ranks before getting his first collegiate position at Colorado State as a graduate intern on Mike Lude's staff. A year later he joined the staff at Montana State as the secondary coach.
In the spring of 1971, Jim Sweeney plucked Burtnett from MSU to coach Washington State's defensive backs. In 1972, the newest WSU assistant went to Wyoming to join Fritz Shurmur's Cowboy staff, where he worked with defensive coordinator Dick Roach, who later was a Sweeney assistant at Washington State.
Burtnett then joined Darryl Rogers' staff at San Jose State in 1974, and then moved with Rogers to Michigan State in 1976. From there Jim Young at Purdue hired him in 1977. Six years later Burtnett was named the Boilermakers' head coach, replacing Young.
In 1984, Burtnett was named Big Ten Coach of the Year after guiding Purdue to a 7-5 record and a berth in the Peach Bowl. That season Purdue defeated Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan, the only time in school history the Boilermakers have defeated all three teams in one season. During his Purdue tenure, Burtnett served as head coach of the 1985 Blue-Gray Game and was an assistant at the 1986 Hula Bowl.
In 1987, the Indianapolis Colts and head coach Ron Meyer came calling. Burtnett spent five seasons with the Colts, the first four as running backs coach and the fifth season as offensive coordinator. After a stint in private business beginning in 1992, Burtnett spent two seasons at Fresno State with Jim Sweeney, three years at Louisiana-Monroe and three years at Arkansas State, serving as defensive coordinator at all three schools.
From Arkansas State, Burtnett made his return to Washington State in 2003, serving four seasons as linebackers coach under head coach Bill Doba and coaching the safeties in 2007.
"Again, bringing that maturity to our defensive side, with losing (defensive coordinator) Mike Breske, we became a young defensive staff," Pflugrad said. "Obviously Leon brings some maturity and knowledge. He's been a defensive coordinator at quite a few different schools, and was the head coach at Purdue University. He's been in some big battles, he's well tested, and I think he can really help our defensive staff and our entire football staff."
He and his wife, Karen, currently reside in Missouri City, Texas.
