Keith Burns (linebacker)
{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1972)}}
{{Other people|Keith Burns}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Keith Burns
| current_team = Tennessee State Tigers
| number =
| position = Special teams coordinator
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|5|16}}
| birth_place = Greeleyville, South Carolina, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 235
| high_school = Alexandria (VA) Williams
| college = Oklahoma State
| draftyear = 1994
| draftround = 7
| draftpick = 210
| pastteams =
- Denver Broncos ({{NFL Year|1994|1998}})
- Chicago Bears ({{NFL Year|1999}})
- Denver Broncos ({{NFL Year|2000|2003}})
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|2004}})
- Denver Broncos ({{NFL Year|2005|2006}})
| pastcoaching =
- Denver Broncos ({{NFL Year|2007|2012}})
Assistant special teams coach - Washington Redskins ({{NFL Year|2013}})
Special teams coordinator - Los Angeles Chargers ({{NFL Year|2018|2020}})
Assistant special teams coach - Los Angeles Chargers (2020)
Special teams coordinator - Tennessee State (2021–present)
Special teams coordinator
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Tackles
| statvalue1 = 187
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 1.5
| statlabel3 = Forced Fumbles
| statvalue3 = 6
| pfr = B/BurnKe21
}}
Keith Bernard Burns (born May 16, 1972) is an American football coach and former professional linebacker and special teams player. He was formerly the special teams coordinator for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL).{{Cite web |url=http://www.redskins.com/team/coaches/Keith-Burns/64d3a817-6b33-4013-9d7d-fce76a97a2fa |title=Coaches |access-date=2013-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051454/http://www.redskins.com/team/coaches/Keith-Burns/64d3a817-6b33-4013-9d7d-fce76a97a2fa |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}
Early life
Burns was born in Greeleyville, South Carolina. He was raised by his mother, Tracy, in Alexandria, Virginia, as the youngest of four children.
He was a 1990 graduate of T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, where he won three varsity letters in football, two in basketball, and one in baseball.{{cite news|title=Redskins hire Broncos assistant Keith Burns to coach special teams|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2013/02/11/redskins-hire-broncos-assistant-to-coach-special-teams/|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=February 11, 2013}}
College career
Burns lettered in football at Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Texas, where he garnered first-team JuCo All-America honors, and finished his sophomore season with six sacks, three interceptions, and 192 tackles.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}
Burns then transferred to Oklahoma State for the 1992–1993 season and immediately made an impact with 126 tackles (102 solo), 5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PtogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M2sFAAAAIBAJ&dq=keith-burns%20oklahoma&pg=1188%2C4424772 Cowboys Shooting For Bowl Game. Mccook Daily Gazette - Aug 20, 1993] He was voted captain of the team after just four games and was named the Big Eight Conference's Defensive Newcomer of the Year.{{cite web|url=http://newsok.com/osu-has-horses-in-burns-gildon-jones-touts-marquee-players-at-preview/article/2437295|title=OSU Has Horses In Burns, Gildon Jones Touts "Marquee" Players at Preview|date=July 27, 1993|work=News OK|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215657/http://newsok.com/osu-has-horses-in-burns-gildon-jones-touts-marquee-players-at-preview/article/2437295|archivedate=March 3, 2016}} Entering his final year at Oklahoma State, he made several pre-season All-America teams and was ranked the No. 1 inside linebacker by The Sporting News.{{Cite web|url=http://newsok.com/media-tackle-hot-topic-burns-osu-backer-poised-for-outstanding-year/article/2439465|title = The Oklahoman: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, News, Politics and Sports}} He was named to the conference's All-Big Eight team both of his years there.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dvkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OQIFAAAAIBAJ&dq=keith-burns%20oklahoma&pg=2483%2C4157092 Coaches Tab All-big Eight. Fort Scott Tribune - Dec 3, 1993]
Playing career
The Denver Broncos drafted Burns in the seventh round (#210 overall) of the 1994 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1994 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1994/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} A Bronco for most of his thirteen-year career, Burns saw playing time as a reserve linebacker and a prominent special teams player. He spent the 1999 season with Chicago Bears, and the 2004 season with Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He won two Super Bowls with the Broncos. For his entire NFL career, Burns played 197 games (3 starts) and totaled 231 special-teams tackles. He also posted 77 career defensive stops (50 solo), 1.5 sacks (9 yds.), one interception (15 yds.), three pass breakups and one forced fumble.{{cite web |url=http://www.denverbroncos.com/team/coaches/keith-burns/8be9b559-a10f-48d4-8300-f2a38bb4e05d |title=Denver Broncos: Keith Burns |website=www.denverbroncos.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717071800/http://www.denverbroncos.com/team/coaches/Keith-Burns/8be9b559-a10f-48d4-8300-f2a38bb4e05d |archive-date=2010-07-17}}
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend |
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| Won the Super Bowl |
| Bold
| Career high |
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="4"| Tackles !colspan="4"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 1994 | DEN
| 11 || 1 || 18 || 15 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1995 | DEN
| 16 || 0 || 13 || 10 || 3 || 1.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1996 | DEN
| 16 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| DEN
| 16 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| DEN
| 16 || 0 || 9 || 7 || 2 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | CHI
| 15 || 0 || 18 || 17 || 1 || 0.0 || 1 || 15 || 0 || 15 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | DEN
| 13 || 0 || 24 || 21 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | DEN
| 16 || 0 || 22 || 19 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | DEN
| 16 || 1 || 12 || 9 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2003 | DEN
| 16 || 0 || 27 || 18 || 9 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | TAM
| 16 || 0 || 12 || 8 || 4 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2005 | DEN
| 15 || 1 || 19 || 16 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | DEN
| 15 || 0 || 11 || 10 || 1 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 197 | 3 | 187 | 152 | 35 | 1.5 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Coaching career
On March 27, 2007, the Broncos announced Burns would retire as Special Teams Captain and assume the role of instructing the special teams. He was given the title of Assistant Special Teams Coach in 2011.
Burns was hired by the Washington Redskins to be their Special Teams Coordinator on February 11, 2013. In moving to Washington, he rejoined Mike Shanahan who was his coach in Denver and who also gave Burns his first coaching job. In his first coaching position Keith Burns's Special Teams unit struggled during 2013 season. According to Football Outsiders, under Burns's leadership, the Washington Redskins' Special Teams unit finished the 2013 regular season ranked last in points compared to league average.{{Cite news |last=Outsiders |first=Football |title=2018 SPECIAL TEAMS RATINGS {{!}} Football Outsiders |url=http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamst |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606084629/https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamst |archive-date=June 6, 2019 |access-date=2025-03-03 |url-status=live }} After less than a year in the position, Keith Burns was dismissed by the Washington Redskins on December 30, 2013, along with Mike Shanahan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/washington-commanders/post/_/id/4430/seven-redskins-assistants-remain|title = Washington| date=30 December 2013 }}
Personal life
Burns met his wife, Michelle, at college. They have three children together. His oldest daughter, Danielle is a star for the women's basketball team at Fordham University, wearing number 22. Danielle earned her master's degree in just four years, having graduated in three years. His other daughter Rachel is currently a member of Charleston Southern. His son Keith is still in High School. In Keith Burns's off time, he has performed stand-up comedy routines around the country.{{cite news| url=http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_4843396 | work=Denver Post | first=Mike | last=Klis | title=Football is no joke to comic Burns | date=December 17, 2006}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://tsutigers.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/keith-burns/649 Tennessee State profile]
{{Super Bowl XXXII}}
{{Super Bowl XXXIII}}
{{Broncos1994DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Keith}}
Category:American football linebackers
Category:Chicago Bears players
Category:Denver Broncos coaches
Category:Denver Broncos players
Category:Los Angeles Chargers coaches
Category:Navarro Bulldogs football players
Category:Oklahoma State Cowboys football players
Category:Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Category:Tennessee State Tigers football coaches
Category:Washington Redskins coaches
Category:T. C. Williams High School alumni
Category:Sportspeople from Alexandria, Virginia
Category:People from Williamsburg County, South Carolina
Category:Coaches of American football from Virginia
Category:Players of American football from Virginia
Category:African-American coaches of American football
Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen
Category:21st-century American sportsmen