Imagine you hire a head coach to change the fortunes of your program, to take it out of those bottom-rung positions, and at least make it a program producing winning seasons. Would that be too hard to do? Well, the case of Kent State Golden Flashes will make you dizzy, perplexed, and wanting answers. Why? Well, it has to do with a head coach who might have made it ‘big’ just as an assistant. But, chose a job at which he failed not just miserably, but broke all the records in finishing last.
Yes, we are talking about Kenni Burns, who was hired by Kent State for the 2022 season on the back of high expectations. The reason? At Minnesota, as their RBs coach, he performed miraculously and even produced an All-American RB Mohamed Ibrahim. This was probably the reason Burns earned a $2.7 million deal at Kent State, that guaranteed the former Minnesota coach almost $525,000 per year. Surely, the package would allow him to deliver, right?
Well, not really. The head coach has since been fired and the program is facing another uncertain period after two years of appalling performances.
Why was Kenny Burns fired?
The head coach’s firing was always on the cards. In the two years Burns remained at the helm; Kent State finished 1-11 in the 2023 season and surprisingly even made it worse the next season as they failed to win a single game in 2024. Burns’ only win came against the Connecticut Blue Devils, an FCS team that also had a tumultuous season as they finished 3-8. Wait, some of the records have been broken too by Burns.
Kent State has fired head coach Kenni Burns, per the schoolhttps://t.co/qOetA1iLiU pic.twitter.com/Br78pUMWfn
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 11, 2025
This was the fifth time Kent State finished with a winless season in their more than a century-old program’s history.
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