James Leon Burtnett (May 30, 1943 – June 1, 2021) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
coach. He served as the head football coach at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
from 1982 to 1986, compiling a record of 21–34–1. He was a sales professional at Central Chevrolet in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
In November 1981, Burtnett was promoted as Purdue's 30th head football coach. During the 1984 campaign, Burtnett's team posted its best season, in which the highlight of the year was beating number 2 Ohio State 28–23. The 1984 squad's 7–4 record earned Burtnett the
Big Ten Coach of the Year
Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each American football, football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football p ...
, leading the Boilermakers to the
Peach Bowl
The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...
. His success that year earned him a contract extension through 1990. Burtnett's teams didn't improve after 1984, and after a 3–8 season in 1986, Burtnett resigned as head coach.
Burtnett has been an assistant coach for several schools, including
Washington State University
Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
,
San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...
,
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
,
Montana State University
Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...
,
Fresno State University
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...
,
Colorado State University
Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...
,
Northeast Louisiana University
The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System.
History
ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...
, and
Arkansas State University
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...
. In addition, Burtnett was an assistant under former Purdue Alumnus
Ron Meyer
Ronald Shaw Meyer (February 17, 1941 – December 5, 2017) was an American college and professional football coach. He is best known for having been the head coach of Southern Methodist University, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts ...
with the
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
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 ...
(NFL). He died two days after his 78th birthday, on June 1, 2021.
James Leon Burtnett
obituary
Head coaching record
College
References
1943 births
2021 deaths
Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches
Colorado State Rams football coaches
Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches
Houston Cougars football coaches
Indianapolis Colts coaches
Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football coaches
Michigan State Spartans football coaches
Montana Grizzlies football coaches
Montana State Bobcats football coaches
Purdue Boilermakers football coaches
San Jose State Spartans football coaches
Washington State Cougars football coaches
Wyoming Cowboys football coaches
High school football coaches in Kansas
People from Meade County, Kansas
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