Kent State expected to hire Kenni Burns as head coach

Kent State is anticipated to rent Minnesota working backs coach/assistant head coach Kenni Burns as its subsequent head coach, a number of folks with information of the search advised The Athletic on Tuesday.

• Burns would exchange Sean Lewis, who stepped down final week after going 24-31 over 5 seasons. Lewis agreed to develop into the offensive coordinator for Deion Sanders at Colorado, folks with information of the scenario advised The Athletic.
• Burns, 39, has been with the Gophers since 2017. His tenure included teaching All-Massive Ten working backs Mohamed Ibrahim and Rodney Smith.
• The Golden Flashes went 5-7 this season. They notched their first bowl win in class historical past in 2019 and made the MAC title recreation in 2021.

Backstory

Burns has MAC expertise, as he held the identical working backs teaching position on the 2016 Western Michigan group that went to the Cotton Bowl. In that one season, Burns coached two gamers who surpassed 900 working yards, together with Jarvion Franklin (1,353 yards). At Minnesota, Burns developed Smith, the No. 2 rusher in Gophers historical past, in addition to Ibrahim, a 2022 All-American. He’s an Illinois native who performed at Indiana. — Vannini

Burns’ key {qualifications}

Burns has turned Minnesota’s working backs room into among the finest within the nation. Ibrahim was MVP of the 2018 Fast Lane Bowl, the 2020 Massive Ten working again of the 12 months and a 2020 third-team AP All-American. Ibrahim went down with a season-ending harm in Week 1 of 2021, the primary of three season-ending accidents on the place that season. The Gophers nonetheless managed to complete twenty seventh nationally in speeding (198 yards per recreation), with fourth- and fifth-stringers Ky Thomas and Bucky Irving carrying the load down the stretch final season. (Irving transferred to Oregon, the place he completed fourth within the Pac-12 in speeding this season.)

Burns is a Springfield, In poor health., native who performed working again at Indiana. He spent one 12 months on P.J. Fleck’s employees at Western Michigan, successful the MAC and making the Cotton Bowl, earlier than coming with the pinnacle coach to the Twin Cities. – Fortuna

Who else was a finalist?

Burns emerged from a robust group of finalists for the job that included incumbent OC Andrew Sowder and former Cincinnati OC Gino Guidugli, the folks with information of the search stated. — Fortuna

Required studying

(Photograph: Loren Orr / Getty Photographs)