Keith Bernard Burns (born May 16, 1972) is an American football coach and former professional

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and special teams player. He was formerly the

Special Teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coordinator for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Early life and high school

Burns was born in

Greeleyville, South Carolina Greeleyville is a town in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 438 at the 2010 census. The town was originally chartered on December 20, 1893. Greeleyville's seal and flag feature a depiction of the first Town Hal ...

. He was raised by his mother, Tracy, in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

as the youngest of four children. He was a 1990 graduate of T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, where he won three

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, two in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and one in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

College

Burns lettered in football at

Navarro Junior College Navarro College is a public community college in Texas with its main campus in Corsicana and branches in Fairfield, Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie. The college has an annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students. The Corsican ...

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

where he garnered first-team

JuCo A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors, and finished his sophomore season with six sacks, three

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, and 192 tackles. Burns then transferred to

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

for the 1992-1993 season and immediately made an impact with 126 tackles (102 solo), 5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. He was voted captain of the team after just four games and was named the Big Eight Conference's Defensive Newcomer of the Year. 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 The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

. He was named to the conference's All-Big Eight team both of his years there.

Playing career

The

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

drafted Burns in the 7th round (#210 overall) of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

. A Bronco for most of his thirteen-year career, Burns saw playing time as a reserve

and a prominent

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player. He spent the 1999 season with

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, and the 2004 season with

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. 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.

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

to be their Special Teams Coordinator on February 11, 2013. In moving to Washington, he rejoined

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led ...

who was his coach in Denver and who also gave Burns his first coaching job. In his first coaching position Keith Burns'

unit struggled during

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

season. According to

Football Outsiders Football Outsiders (FO) is a website started in July 2003 which focuses on advanced statistical analysis of the NFL. The site is run by a staff of regular writers, who produce a series of weekly columns using both the site's in-house statistics ...

, under Burns' leadership, the Washington Redskins' Special Teams unit finished the 2013 regular season ranked last in points compared to league average. After less than a year in the position, Keith Burns was dismissed by the

on December 30, 2013 along with

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 masters 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' off time, he has performed stand-up comedy routines around the country.

References

External links

Tennessee State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Keith 1972 births Living people American football linebackers Chicago Bears players Denver Broncos coaches Denver Broncos players Los Angeles Chargers coaches Navarro Bulldogs football players Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Washington Redskins coaches T. C. Williams High School alumni Sportspeople from Alexandria, Virginia People from Williamsburg County, South Carolina Coaches of American football from Virginia Players of American football from Virginia African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients