Bruce Burnett GARY ABBOTT’S MATSIDE CHAT WITH...
Bruce Burnett has excelled as a coach at every level of wrestling. A native of Bakersfield, Calif., he wrestled junior col- lege in Bakersfield and at Idaho State at the NCAA level. As a high school coach, he won nine conference, six district and four state championships at Meridian High in Idaho, with a .917 win- ning percentage. His next post was as the assistant wrestling coach for Oklahoma State, which won two NCAA titles, two National Duals titles and three Big Eight titles during his four years there.
Burnett joined USA Wrestling as National Developmental Coach, then coached two Olympic cycles as its National Freestyle Coach. The USA won the 1993 and 1995 World titles, the 2006 Olympic medal count and numerous World and Olympic medals under him. He is now in his 12th year as head coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, building a nationally respect- ed program and many strong individual athletes. We spoke with Coach Burnett about his many experiences.
USA Wrestler: How did you get involved in wrestling, and who were your early mentors? Burnett: For me, I wanted a letter. Back then, it was impor-
tant to get a letterman’s jacket. I competed in basketball in jun- ior high, but I knew in high school if I wanted a varsity letter I had to do something else. I saw a little guy with a varsity letter, and he said he was a wrestler. I thought I could take that coat off him. So I went out. That year, I didn’t letter, but I started at 101 for half the year. My high school coach Winford Bootman never wrestled. He’d drop by my house and take me to tourna- ments. He was a good man and got me interested. At the time, Joe Seay was a high school coach at another school and was training for the Olympics. He’d call me and some other high school guys for workout partners. He was a mentor as well.
USA Wrestler: How did you do in high school level, and what led to your pursuing wrestling in college? Burnett: Back then, California only had CIF sections. Ours was the toughest, the Central Valley from Clovis through Bakersfield. I was third as a sophomore, second as a junior, won it as a senior. Joe Seay got my mindset on college as well. He’d wrestle Gable and all those guys. Bakersfield was wrestling-oriented and there were stories in the papers about Joe all the time. And I was a high school wrestler working out with that man. I was motivated and really wanted to wrestle.
USA Wrestler: What were the highlights of your college career at Bakersfield JC as well as at Idaho State? Burnett: I never had a coach who had wrestled, but I was committed to the sport. I won the JC a few times and was Outstanding Wrestler. California had over 100 junior colleges then. I had 37 offers to go on to colleges. I was looking at Colorado and Northern Colorado, then I got a call from Idaho State. The coach asked me why I considered those schools and I said I loved to hunt and fish. He said that the deer they don’t want, they send down to Colorado, so I decided to visit Idaho. I went out, saw Yellowstone Park and decided to go there. Back then, college wrestling was different. I went to the NCAA tourna-
24 USA Wrestler
Navy coach Bruce Burnett served as USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach from 1992-2000.
ment twice and I lost two times. It was follow-the-leader. The guy had to win the semis for you to wrestle back. I lost to a guy I thought I should have beaten. He had to beat Larry Owings. I thought there was no way he would beat Owings, but it went down to the wire before Owings won. He wrestled back to third. That left me hungry. I wouldn’t have changed anything. I met great people, the outdoors was great and it got me into coach- ing in Idaho. I got to wrestle, but was not a great wrestler.
USA Wrestler: When did you decide to coach, and what most appealed to you about it? Burnett: I always knew it. I just didn’t know what I’d coach. In
fifth grade, I’d type up our baseball team lineup. I didn’t care if it was sandlot, I’d tell them what to do and how to do it. Part of it was because my high school, junior college and Idaho State coach had never wrestled. They were great guys, would get you in great shape, and showed some moves. So where do you get the information? I was one of the first guys to get Bobby Douglas’ Takedown book. I hunted up as much information as I could on wrestling. I just started studying it. I was one of the first guys with a video camera. I had this big unit which was both a player and recorder.
USA Wrestler: You coached a highly successful high school program in Idaho for 14 years. What was the key in helping these young men succeed in wrestling? Burnett: I took over a program without a state placer. The first year, we had a placer. The next two years, we were second in the state. I remember we had a guy who was a Kids Man of
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