JOHN BURRELL - HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

John Burrell returns for his fifth season as the head coach of Western Connecticut State University.  Burrell enters the 2006 campaign with an overall record of 24-16.  The Colonials have enjoyed unprecedented success since 1999.  During that span the team has compiled a 52-20 overall record.  Coach Burrell is proud to have been an integral part of each season during this stretch.

Burrell believes his role as mentor to his players supersedes wins and losses.  He is proud of the way his players comport themselves on campus and in the community.  The Colonials continue to stand out as positive role models and are highly praised representatives of the University.  Most of them are involved in community service projects on and off campus.

2005 marked the first year that Burrell worked with a complete team of players that he and his staff had recruited.  These players worked hard to improve and saw their work ethic pay off with a 6-4 record.  They raised the mark from the previous year by improving to fourth in the rugged New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).  Twelve team and individual records were eclipsed a year ago.  The 2005 team had 13 players represented on the All-NJAC team.  In 2004, the Colonials struggled to come to terms with the competition of the NJAC.  However, thirteen individual or team records were broken by West Conn's potent spread offense in '04.  WestConn finished the season with a mark of 5-5.  Burrell led the Colonials to a 6-4 overall record and 3-3 mark in the Freedom Football Conference in 2003.  In his first campaign as head coach, in 2002, the Colonials had seven wins and three losses.  That season, over twenty team or individual records were broken as the WestConn offense returned to prominence.  In 2002 and 2003, the Colonials led the Freedom Football Conference with 14 players voted to the All-FFC team.

Burrell believes strongly in delegating authority and letting his assistants coach.  He has built a strong nucleus within his coaching staff and he’s excited to welcome Dan Loewenberg, Bryan Luchsinger, Marc Bourque and Rockwell Kelsey back to his staff.  Kelsey, Loewenberg and Luchsinger have been with Coach Burrell since his inaugural season as head coach.  Marc Bourque and Rockwell Kelsey will once again be coordinating the offense and defense.  Burrell will be coaching the defensive backs again this season.  He thoroughly enjoys the challenges of teaching his players how to excel in the secondary.  This is a familiar spot for John, who served as the DB coach at WestConn from 1997 to 1999 and again in 2005.  Burrell will be spending equal time supervising the performance of the offense and defense but special teams will be his primary area of attention at the strategic level.  Under Burrell's direction, the Colonials were ranked first in the NJAC in overall special teams statistics in 2004 and 2005.

This will be Burrell's eleventh year as a coach at Western Connecticut State University.  Prior to his appointment as Head Coach, Burrell coordinated WestConn's much-heralded defense for four years.  During that span, Burrell's defenses were consistently among the best in the nation.  In 2000, the defense was ranked number one in NCAA Division III in takeaways (4.37 per game), fourth in pass efficiency defense (70.9 rating), 11th in scoring defense (11.6 points per game) and 12th in total defense (247 yards per game).  It was the third consecutive year the Colonials finished as the number one ranked defense in the Freedom Football Conference.

The Middlebury College graduate (B.A. 1992 - American Civilization) enjoyed a productive playing career from 1987 to 1990.  He was a two-year varsity letter winner at running back.  In 1990, Burrell was awarded the first annual Panther Award, presented to the player who most exemplifies the spirit and integrity of Middlebury football.

Burrell's coaching career started in 1991 at his alma mater.  He spent two seasons working under his mentor and former coach, Mickey Heinecken.  In 1995, Burrell was an assistant coach at Ellicottville Central School in Western New York.  He graduated from ECS in 1987.

Burrell came to WCSU in 1996 as a graduate assistant and coached the outside linebackers.  From 1997 through 1999, he was the defensive backs coach and spent one season as the special teams coordinator.  Before his promotion to head coach, Burrell spent two years as the lone full-time assistant to current NFL assistant coach Bob Surace.  During that time, Burrell had many off the field responsibilities, including recruiting coordinator, academic advisor, faculty liaison and academic advisor.

Burrell is an active member of the American Football Coaches Association and will again serve on the AFCA Coach of the Year Committee.  He is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

John and his wife Erin live in Southbury, Connecticut.  Erin, an Iowa State University graduate and Chagrin Falls, Ohio native, is an accounting manager for The Warnaco Group, Inc. in Milford, CT.  She is also a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor.  Erin is very involved with the football program throughout the year.  She has been instrumental in the formulation of the Colonials’ off-season strength and conditioning program and has worked one on one with many of the players.