Burnett enters his fourth season with North Texas as an assistant coach and 14th year as a collegiate coach. Burnett came to North Texas five seasons as the top assistant at Division II power Western Washington. Burnett was the 2014 USTFCCCA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year leading the Vikings to five top 25 NCAA team finishes.
In 2019, Burnett led Aneesa Scott to a breakout season as she set the school record in the 400 in 53.29 seconds and improved her time to 53.13 to earn the title at the C-USA Outdoor Championships and went on to finish 23rd at the NCAA West Preliminary. Scott also notched a UNT all-conditions best time in the 200 in 23.43 to finish third at the Long Beach Invitational.
The men’s 4x100 relay team consisting of Darien Porter, Davonye Jones, Antonio Delacruz and Abdon Campbell finished 13that the NCAA West Preliminary, one spot shy of earning a berth at the NCAA Championships while Breanna Eckels finished 38th in long jump.
The men’s 4x100 relay team of Porter, Jones, Delacruz and James Cole finished second at the C-USA Outdoor Championships and the foursome registered the sixth best time in school history in 39.96 seconds to finish seventh at the Texas Relays. Porter, Delacruz, and Jones went on to finish fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 100 to place three runners in the top eight in a CUSA Championship final for the first time ever.
During the 2019 the indoor season, Alia Holmes broke the school record in the 200 at the Texas Tech Classic in 23.81 seconds and claimed the second fastest time in the 60 at UNT in 7.48 seconds. Burnett also helped start the huddle for Fellowship of Christian Athletes at UNT.
In 2018, Eckles posted a lifetime best of 6.28 meters in the long jump at the Long Beach Invitational to move into a tie at number three on the UNT all-time list. At the C-USA Outdoor Championships, she finished second and rounded out the year 32ndat the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Burnett also coached the men’s 4x100 relay team of Alford Tribble, Cole, Dominique Drayden and Campbell to a second place finish at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays and a fourth place finish at the C-USA Outdoor Championships.
In 2017, Burnett directed Eckels to the C-USA Indoor title in long jump, a runner-up finish at the C-USA Outdoor Championships and 16th at the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Eckels rounded out the year finishing sixth at the USA Track and Field Junior Championships.
At Western Washington, Burnett helped produce a DII power by earning five Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships (two men’s indoor, three men’s outdoor) and coached 10 student-athletes to All-America honors while overseeing 27 GNAC champions and five USTFCCCA Academic All-America honorees. His athletes broke school records in the men's and women’s 60m, 60m hurdles, men's 100, men's 200m, men's 400 indoors, men's indoor and outdoor 4x400 relay, men's 110m hurdles, women's 100m hurdles, women's 3000m steeplechase, women's 1500, men's long jump and women's triple jump and high jump. Burnett’s most notable athletes included Alex Donigian, the NCAA Indoor Championship runner-up in the 60 in 2015 and five-time All-American, and Katelyn Steen, a seven-time All-American in cross country, 3000m steeplechase, 3000 and 5000. Burnett was selected as a recipient for the Presidents Excellence Award twice at WWU.
Before Western Washington, Burnett spent five seasons (2006-11) as an assistant coach at his alma mater, UTSA, earning Southland Conference Assistant Coach of the Year honors all five seasons. During his UTSA tenure, the Roadrunners won seven conference team track championships (five indoor and two outdoor). He coached 18 Midwest Regional all-stars, 20 league champions and 12 school record setters. Burnett was the staff sponsor for The Fellowship of Christian Athletes and highly involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Athletes Burnett has coached include sprinter Teddy Williams who competed in Super Bowl L and has played for six NFL teams since 2010. Williams was a four-time All-American who reached the semifinals in the 100 meters at 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials and holds the 17thfastest all-conditions 100m mark in NCAA history at 9.90w. Burnett signed Keyunta Hayes, the No. 1 Hurdler in the nation out of high school who went on to finish as the 2011 SLC champion in the 400m hurdles, third place in the 110m hurdles and runner-up honors indoors in the 60m hurdles. William Vesse, a four-time SLC champion in the 110m hurdles, finished fourth in the 2008 Nigerian Olympic Trials. Jessica Jones was a four-time SLC Champion in the 100m and 60m hurdles.
In 2009, the UTSA Athletic Department created the David Burnett Roadrunner Pride Award to honor hard working student-athlete showing dedication and school pride.
Burnett began his coaching career in 2006 as a volunteer coach with the women’s cross country team working under 2012 and 2016 USA Olympic Team women’s distance coach Rose Monday.
A former UTSA student-athlete, Burnett earned the inaugural Southland Conference Steve McCarty Citizenship Award as a senior as the top overall student-athlete in the conference, helping the Roadrunners to its first league indoor title. A two-time team captain, he was a 10-time all-conference performer, winning the 400 at the league indoor meet in 2005 and ranking 11thnationally in the 100m in 2002. Burnett was a two-time NCAA Midwest Regional qualifier, a four-time member of the SLC Commissioners Honor Roll, an NCAA Inspiration Award nominee and a semifinalist for the John Wooden Golden Cup Inspiration Award. He served as the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and SAAC and was selected to represent the Southland Conference at the SAAC National Conference.
Burnett earned a bachelor's degree at UTSA in 2006, majoring in kinesiology. Burnett has the USA Weightlifting Sports Performance certification, USA Track and Field Level 1 certification and USTFCCCA Advanced Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification.
Burnett is married to the former Jessica Gertz, a 2015 USA Triathlon top-50 finisher in her age group. She has competed in the Boston Marathon and was a track athlete at Concordia University, St. Paul, and Minnesota State University, Mankato. They have two children, Ezekiel and Zaria.