North Idaho resident coaching national freestyle wrestling team

DOVER, Idaho – Look outside his newly built home in an idyllic resort community here and it’s easy to understand why Bruce Burnett yearns to spend most of his time enjoying the outdoors.

The opportunity to snow ski, mountain bike, fish and golf was one of the big reasons he and his wife, Karen, picked the area 3 miles west of Sandpoint as their retirement home.

The 65-year-old Burnett was six months into retirement after spending more than 50 years around wrestling, the last 13 as the U.S. Naval Academy head coach, when the governing body of the sport he dearly loves called.

A year ago last month, USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender asked Burnett if he would assist with finding a national freestyle coach. Zeke Jones had resigned to take the head coaching position at his alma mater, Arizona State.

Three weeks later, Bender called again. This time Bender upped the ante – he wanted Burnett to be Jones’ replacement and coach the national team through the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Burnett previously served as the national freestyle coach for two Olympic cycles (1993-2000), which are considered among the most successful in U.S. history. During that span, the U.S. won World Team titles in 1993 in Toronto and 1995 in Atlanta – the only two times in history. And the U.S. won the medal count at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. All told, Team USA won 11 medals in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics including four golds.

Burnett and his wife prayed about the decision.

“If I signed on, she had to sign on,” he said.

Burnett accepted the job.

“My whole life has been divine intervention,” Burnett said. “I put plans together and they always fell through. And then something would fall into my lap.”

“We are incredibly fortunate to have one of the greatest coaches in Team USA history lead our program,” Bender said in a press release last year. “Coach Burnett is considered by many as one of the top strategists ever in international wrestling. His proven ability to connect with elite-level wrestlers bodes well for Team USA heading into Rio. Our expectations for this team just got higher.”

A Bakersfield, California, native, Burnett accepted a scholarship to Idaho State after winning two California junior college championships. Then ISU coach Tom Jewell recruited Burnett after learning he wanted to continue wrestling in Colorado.

“He asked me why I wanted to go to Colorado,” Burnett said. “I told him I loved the outdoors and wanted to hunt and fish. He told me ‘the deer we don’t want we run to Colorado and our fish eat their fish.’ ”

Burnett was sold. He qualified for the NCAA tournament both years at ISU, graduating in 1973.

He landed his first teaching and coaching jobs in 1974 at Meridian High near Boise.

Burnett turned Meridian into a state powerhouse, coaching four state title teams and four runner-up finishes. His dual record was 154-13-2.

He did a clinic in Lewiston in 1987. One of the clinicians was former Oklahoma State coach and then Cowboys athletic director Myron Roderick, who was so impressed with Burnett that he offered him OSU’s head assistant coaching job on the spot.

Burnett headed to OSU where he stayed for four years before he was hired at USA Wrestling.

He left USA Wrestling in 2000 to become head coach at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Karen retired from a career in education in July 2013, moving from Maryland into their new home. Bruce decided he wanted to coach Navy one more year before joining her.

But two months later, just before preseason practices were to begin, Burnett retired.

The Midshipmen were 113-57. Burnett coached 50 NCAA tourney qualifiers and 10 All-Americans.

While at Navy, Burnett continued his relationship with USA Wrestling as a volunteer coach at the national and age-group levels.

Burnett is physically fit these days, appearing as if he could spar at any moment on the mat. But the toll of coaching – combined with neck surgery, two hip replacements and three knee surgeries that, he believes, go back to football and wrestling in high school – closed the door on that long ago.

He returned to Team USA last year in the middle of an Olympic quadrennium.

Burnett jumped in headlong, knowing he had much work to do. He figures he’s watched 25 videos over a three-year span on about three dozen candidates for the World and Olympic teams. He’s charted strengths and weaknesses, breaking down their best moves and their opponents’ best moves against them.

“Most of our elite athletes are college assistant coaches,” Burnett said.

He pointed out that the average age of wrestlers on the World Team in 1996 was 29 years and 9 months. In 2000, the average was three months younger.

“These are men that have families. They commit their whole life to be an Olympic or world champ,” Burnett said. “I have to match their commitment and intensity. I don’t want to see them fail.”

Helping his wrestlers improve must start with the details.

He returned last week from Santiago, Chile. He had a few days to get caught up on laundry and some chores before heading out last Wednesday for the U.S. Open in Las Vegas for more evaluations and copious note taking.

Burnett has month-to-month calendars full with weeks blocked off for wrestling-related trips and training across the U.S. and internationally.

The push to select the Olympic team begins next April, culminating two months later with the U.S. Olympic trials. The top wrestlers in each of six weights make the team along with two alternates per weight.

Burnett has to take a businesslike approach to the selection process.

“I have to be completely dispassionate,” he said.

He expects Team USA to be successful.

“Americans train as hard as anybody,” he said. “The U.S. has the tools to win. Russia has been dominant for so long, but we can beat them. That’s what drives us every day.”

Come late August 2016, Burnett’s commitment to USA Wrestling ends. This will be his last endeavor for the Red, White and Blue.

Then he can fulfill a promise to take his tennis-loving wife to the Australian and French Opens, among other things.

“I’m not good at retirement but this is my last hurrah,” Burnett said.