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Greg Burns is in his third season on the Cal coaching staff in 2016 and his second as the team's safeties coach after working with all of the defensive backs in his first campaign with the Golden Bears in 2014. Burns has been a member of 12 bowl game staffs heading into his 20th season as a collegiate coach in 2016.
Burns has spent 10 of his last 15 seasons working in the Pac-12 with four previous seasons each at USC and Arizona State before the last two campaigns at Cal. Among Burns’ 12 bowl games are four BCS bowls all during his time at USC when he was part of a Trojans’ coaching staff that won back-to-back AP national championships in 2003 and 2004.
“Greg is a real solid football coach and has a great work ethic," head coach
Sonny Dykes said. "I have a lot of respect for his approach to the game and I love the way he works with the players. He’s a really consistent and good teacher. And he’s adaptable. He can coach different positions in the defensive backfield. He’s a good communicator and teacher who has a lot of credibility having coached and played in this league. He is a fair and demanding coach who does an excellent job communicating with his student-athletes.”
“The coaching and recruiting experience Greg has at the highest levels of college football, his familiarity with the Pac-12 and the type of players the league attracts pays dividends for us,” Dykes added. “He has developed great relationships and really understands his primary recruiting area in Southern California. He does a great job for us in that area.”
The contributions of the 2015 Cal defense helped the Bears to an 8-5 record, giving Cal its first eight-win season since the 2009 team was also 8-5 with only 29 teams since the beginning of Cal football in 1882-83 winning eight or more and only 17 either nine or 10. Cal capped its 2015 season with its first bowl victory since 2008 in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl with the spot in postseason play its first since 2011.
Much of Cal's improvement in 2015 was because the Bears' defense continued to improve at a rapid rate, allowing 9.1 less points per game than the previous season and 15.8 points fewer than the 2013 campaign before Burns arrived along with defensive coordinator
Art Kaufman arrived in 2014.
Cal was one of the nation's top teams in categories related to caused turnovers during the 2015 season as the Golden Bears finished the campaign tied for 11th nationally in fumbles recovered (12), tied for 13th in turnovers gained (27), tied for 23rd in passes intercepted (15) and tied for 25th in defensive touchdowns (3). Cal tied for first in the Pac-12 in fumbles recovered, tied for second in turnovers gained and passes intercepted, and tied for fourth in defensive touchdowns. All of the 2015 numbers and rankings were improvements from the previous season.
The safety position at Cal was solidified in 2015 by the play of senior
Stefan McClure and junior
Damariay Drew with Burns being able to focus on the safeties after the hiring of
John Lovett to coach the cornerbacks in 2015.
McClure, the only three-time team captain in school history, recovered from a series of injuries that caused him to miss 25 of 49 possible games including the entire 2012 campaign over his first four seasons to earn honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors and start all 13 possible contests both for the first time in his career as a fifth-year senior in 2015. He had career highs of 61 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss (-14 yards), his first career sack (-9 yards), third career fumble recovery that he returned 45 yards for his first career touchdown against Washington State to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors and recorded three pass breakups. McClure was also selected as the winner of Cal's prestigious Joe Roth Award honoring the player who best exemplifies courage, sportsmanship and attitude. In addition, he was recognized for his community service by being named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list and was Cal’s nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®. McClure signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts after the 2016 NFL Draft.
Drew finished third on the 2015 squad with a career-high 71 tackles despite missing the final two-plus regular season games due to injury after suffering an injury in the 10th contest of the season against Oregon State before returning to play in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl victory over Air Force. He also had career-highs of 4.0 tackles for loss (career-high -9 yards) and two interceptions as well as one pass breakup. His two interceptions came in critical moments late in the fourth quarter to secure victories in back-to-back games at Washington and against Washington State.
In his first season at Cal in 2014, Burns’ defensive backs dealt with significant injuries at the safety position and a tremendous amount of youth and inexperience at cornerback. Key veteran safeties McClure,
Griffin Piatt and
Avery Sebastian combined to miss 21 possible starts due to injury. The team’s three starting cornerbacks in 2014 –
Cedric Dozier,
Cameron Walker and
Darius White – had a combined four starts at the position prior to the season.
CAL PLAYERS ON GREG BURNS
“Coach Burns is a very technical and strategic coach that makes you think and view the game in a way that I have never seen a coach before do. He’s probably the best coach I’ve ever had.”
– Sophomore S Evan Rambo
“Coach Burns is a real players' coach. Having the playing experience as a collegiate athlete, he understands what it takes to be successful and he takes the time to view things from a players' perspective. He's a great teacher and a great coach.”
– Junior S Luke Rubenzer
In addition to his Pac-12 experience, Burns has other collegiate coaching stops at Idaho, Louisville, Kansas State, Purdue and Massachusetts.
Burns spent the 2013 season as the defensive backs coach for a Massachusetts’ unit that ranked No. 42 nationally in passing yards allowed (217.8 ypg).
Burns was at Purdue in 2012 when three of the Boilermakers’ five players on All-Big Ten teams came from his secondary in cornerbacks Ricardo Allen and Josh Johnson, and safety Landon Feichter. Purdue ranked No. 43 nationally in pass efficiency defense (124.59).
Burns joined the Purdue staff after spending the previous four seasons (2008-11) as the cornerbacks coach at Arizona State. The Sun Devils led the Pac-10 and finished among the nation’s top units in 2009 in total defense (No. 13, 297.58 ypg), rushing defense (No. 19, 108.58 ypg) and passing defense (No. 26, 189.00 ypg). Arizona State also led the conference in rushing defense and was No. 16 nationally (119.67 ypg) the following season in 2010, while ranking second in the league and among the nation’s top units in tackles for loss (No. 8, 7.42 tflpg), pass efficiency defense (No. 20, 108.58) and scoring defense (No. 26, 21.08 ppg). Defensive back Omar Bolden was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection in 2010 and selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, where he has played for four seasons for the Super Bowl 50 winners who were also participants in Super Bowl XLVIII before signing as a free agent with the Chicago Bears in March of 2016.
Prior to his four campaigns at ASU, Burns spent the 2007 season as the defensive backs coach at Kansas State.
Burns’ lone season in the NFL came with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the team’s defensive backs coach in 2006, where he coached cornerback Ronde Barber in his second and final All-Pro campaign.
His two national championships in 2003 and 2004 came during a tremendously successful run at USC as the defensive backs coach under head coach Pete Carroll for four seasons from 2002-05, with the Trojans winners of the BCS National Championship Game in January of 2005 following the 2004 campaign.
During his time at USC, Burns developed a reputation as one of the brightest secondary coaches in the country and mentored a number of standout performers, including All-American safeties Troy Polamalu (2002) and Darnell Bing (2005). He also coached first-team All-Pac-10 cornerback Will Poole in 2003. Polamalu was a first-round selection (16th overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2003 NFL Draft, while Poole and Bing were fourth-round picks of the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions in 2004 and 2006. Terrell Thomas, who played one season for Burns in 2005, ended up a second-round selection of the New York Giants in the 2008 NFL Draft. In 2004, the Trojans were sixth nationally in total defense (279.3 ypg).
Burns previously coached cornerbacks for four seasons at Louisville from 1998-2001 and produced six All-Conference USA selections during his tenure, including first-teamers Anthony Floyd (2000, 2001) and Antonio Roundtree (1998) while Rashad Holman was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. The Cardinals ranked 18th nationally in pass efficiency defense and had 20 interceptions in his final season in 2001. In 2000, Louisville led the nation in interceptions (27) and was 20th in the country in pass efficiency defense. Louisville played in bowls during each of the four seasons of his tenure at the 1998 Motor City Bowl, 1999 Humanitarian Bowl, and 2000 and 2001 Liberty Bowl.
Burns started his coaching career with one campaign as the cornerbacks coach at Idaho (1997) with the Vandals intercepting 13 passes.
Burns was a four-year letterwinner (1991-93, 1995) and three-year starter at Washington State, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors in 1992 when the Cougars won the Copper Bowl. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington State in 1995 and his master’s in counseling psychology from the same school in 1997.
Burns participated on the football and track and field teams at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, where he graduated from in 1991.
He and his wife Crystal have three sons: Cristopher, Carter and Cooper.
Greg Burns File
Birthdate: November 9, 1972
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
High School: Dorsey HS
College: Washington State, 1995, Bachelor's in Psychology; Washington State, 1997, Master's In Psychology
Family: Wife, Crystal; Sons, Cristopher, Carter and Cooper
Coaching History
Season: School – Position
1997: Idaho – Cornerbacks
1998: Louisville – Cornerbacks
1999: Louisville – Cornerbacks
2000: Louisville – Cornerbacks
2001: Louisville – Cornerbacks
2002: USC – Defensive Backs
2003: USC – Defensive Backs
2004: USC – Defensive Backs
2005: USC – Defensive Backs
2006: Tampa Bay (NFL) – Defensive Backs
2007: Kansas State – Defensive Backs
20098 Arizona State – Cornerbacks
2009: Arizona State – Cornerbacks
2010: Arizona State – Cornerbacks
2011: Arizona State – Cornerbacks
2012: Purdue – Defensive Backs
2013: Massachusetts – Defensive Backs
2014: Cal – Defensive Backs
2015: Cal – Safeties
2016: Cal – Safeties
Bowl History (11 Games)
Season: School – Bowl
1998: Louisville – Motor City Bowl
1999: Louisville – Humanitarian Bowl
2000: Louisville – Liberty Bowl
2001: Louisville – Liberty Bowl
2002: USC – Orange Bowl
2003: USC – Rose Bowl
2004: USC – Orange Bowl
2005: USC – Rose Bowl
2011: Arizona State – MAACO Bowl
2012: Purdue – Heart of Dallas Bowl
2015: Cal – Armed Forces Bowl
*Season in which bowl game was played
Last Updated
July 8, 2016
