By Paul Tenorio
Saturday, December 6, 2008
When Broad Run Athletic Director Jack Kirby sorted through all the résumés he received when the Spartans' football coaching position opened following Ken Belchik's resignation in December 2005, he was surprised to see one from a coach in Santa Monica, Calif.
"We looked at it like, 'What is this?' " Kirby recalled.
But after reviewing the candidate's credentials, Kirby said it became obvious that if the coach was serious about moving across the country, he was a definite front-runner for the job.
Mike Burnett was serious. And after he and his wife, Kimberly Burnett, interviewed for positions at the Ashburn high school, both were hired.
"We told Mike this jokingly that we really hired his wife and he had to make the move, too," Kirby said.
The decision to hire Mike Burnett has paid huge dividends for No. 5 Broad Run.
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Between the school's opening in 1969 and Burnett's hiring, Broad Run football had made just two postseason appearances. And in the five previous seasons, the Spartans had gone a combined 15-35.
But after posting a 5-5 record in Burnett's first season at the helm, Broad Run has won 23 of its past 24 games and will play today in the Virginia AA Division 4 championship against two-time defending champion Amherst County.
"I think it was excitement just for change," Broad Run defensive coordinator Adam Fortune, the lone holdover from the previous coaching regime, said of the program's turnaround. "I think at that point, regardless of who came in, there would have been excitement. But I think when they came in and saw what he was going to implement and what we then implemented that summer and the way we played and just the attitude and passion that those kids played with . . . that more than anything else excited the community."
Guided by Burnett, Broad Run has boasted a well-balanced team that has dominated opponents for much of the past two seasons.
This year, running backs T.J. Peeler and Breon Earl have combined to lead a rushing attack that has been the focal point of the Spartans' offense. And the Broad Run defense, anchored by middle linebacker Kenny McAdow, has allowed slightly more than 12 points per game as Broad Run captured its first football region championship.
Earlier this week, Burnett received an e-mail from Hiroshima, Japan, where an alumnus of Broad Run's football program wrote to wish the Spartans good luck.
And players said they are getting calls from family members and friends who graduated from Broad Run, urging them to "take this home, make us proud," senior Shawn Lewis said.
For Burnett, the success is an indication not of his own work, but of the dedication shown by the entire program.
"If I did anything, I just pulled it all together," Burnett said. "These guys were all here, the parents were here, the kids were here, the community was here. And for some reason there was just a disconnect. . . . But I think we've pulled together a lot of ingredients to make it mesh."
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