At the U of M, we have seen the extremes on both sides. PJ Fleck was hired as Golden Gophers head football coach back in 2017, following a sexual assault scandal involving 10 football players from Tracy Claeys’ team in 2016.

When they were hired, both Fleck and athletic director Mark Coyle were seen as “fixers”. Not just fixers of the football program, but from a Norwood Teague athletic department wrought with documented scandals and inappropriate behavior during his three-year tenure as AD, from 2012-2015.

Today, we seem long removed from all of the chaos that engulfed the Minnesota Gophers athletic department in the early to mid 2010s, but that doesn’t mean other schools around the country aren’t dealing with similar incompetence.

Former MN Gophers running backs coach in big trouble at Kent State

What I didn’t expect was for one of those programs in turmoil to be Kent State University, which on Thursday night placed its head football coach (and former Minnesota Gophers running backs coach) Kenni Burns on paid administrative leave.

The reasoning for Burns’s suspension was not given, but it’s not believed to be due to the dreadful Golden Flashes being 1-21 in two seasons under Kenni Burns, the 41-year-old former running back at Indiana.

Sources: Kent State football coach Kenni Burns has been placed on administrative leave.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 27, 2025

“Kent State has placed head football coach Kenni Burns on administrative leave with pay. Greg Glaus, executive deputy athletics director, will continue to oversee the administrative responsibilities related to the program. Offensive coordinator Mark Carney will direct on-field activities at this time. No further comments on this personnel matter will be provided.”

Kent State statement regarding HC Kenni Burns’ suspension

Kenni Burns coached running backs at the University of Minnesota from 2017-2023. He came to Dinkytown as part of PJ Fleck’s original Gophers coaching staff. He was hired as Fleck’s running backs coach in 2016, while PJ was still the head coach at Western Michigan.

Prior to joining Fleck’s staff, Burns coached at Southern Illinois (TE), NDSU (WR) and Wyoming (WR). He also employs multiple former Fleck assistants at Kent State, along with arguably the greatest running back in Golden Gophers history, Mohamed Ibrahim, who was hired by Burns just a few months ago.

Look behind curtain not good for Kenni Burns

While we do not know exactly why Kenni Burns was put on administrative leave, there are some concerning developments that have been both reported and rumored, including a November 2024 CBS Sports report that detailed a legal battle with Hometown Bank of Ohio for over $24,000 in unsettled credit card debt.

In a complaint filed on Sept. 13, Kent-based Hometown Bank alleges Burns applied for and was issued a credit card and failed to make minimum monthly payments on the card as well as exceeding the credit limit of $20,000.

It is unclear when the credit card was issued or the purchases that contributed to the debt, but an attached credit card statement that closed on August 5th, 2024 stated that the account was 60 days past due.

Richard Johnson – CBS Sports

On social media and within the message board community, there’s A LOT of chatter surrounding possible gambling infractions. If true, that would explain why the Kent State head coach and former MN Gophers running backs coach has been placed on administrative leave. But again, those rumors are (for now) just circumstantial.

While at the University of Minnesota, Kenni Burns had other legal issues he dealt with that are all public record, most of them speeding or other traffic/parking related infractions.

• January 2023: Parking in Contract Parking + Failure to Display Current Registration – Expired Plates
  • 5 Other similar parking zone + licensing infractions (2018-2023)
• March 2018: Traffic-speeding-Exceed interstate limit 65 mph in urban 80/60
• October 2017: Traffic – Speeding – Exceed Speed Limit Posted in Local Jurisdiction Speed Zones 70/55
• June 2017: Traffic – Speeding – Exceed Speed Limit Posted in Local Jurisdiction Speed Zones 74/55

His resignation as Wyoming WR coach in 2015, right before he was hired by Fleck as MN Gophers RB coach, left a lot of questions unanswered, as well. Combined together, this situation portrays Burns as a longtime college football coach who probably never should have gotten his head coaching job to begin with…

Now, it looks like his loyalty to Fleck and the hard work he’s put in will pay off. According to Pete Thamel (ESPN), Burns is being targeted as, and is expected to be, the next head coach of respected MAC school, Kent State.

Sources: Kent State is targeting Minnesota assistant head coach Kenni Burns to be the school's next head coach. A deal is expected to be finalized in the near future. Burns has MAC experience from his time Western Michigan under P.J. Fleck.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 13, 2022

What Kenni Burns brings to Kent State

Kenni Burns is a total package kind of coach. He’s proven to be one of the best in the country at identifying talent, recruiting talent and eventually developing said talent. When Burns first arrived in Dinkytown, he helped Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks reach new heights.

Fleck and Burns brought Mohamad Ibrahim with them to Minnesota, after he originally committed to Western Michigan, then helped him develop into the most prolific running back in Gopher history. And let’s not forget about his recruiting hits from 2019 and 2021.

In those cycles, Burns helped convince two 4-star talents, in Ky Thomas (2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas) and Mar’Keise Irving, to leave their midwestern states and head north to Dinkytown. Both youngsters had monster 2021 seasons, after Ibrahim was lost to the season with a calf injury and both were swiped in the transfer portal by homesickness (Kansas – Thomas) and big time NIL cash (Oregon – Irving).

Coaching Resume

This isn’t the first time that Kenni Burns has been courted by smaller schools as their next head coach. He turned the Eastern Illinois job down back in 2018. Here is the rest of his coaching experience, according to GopherSports.com:

Coaching Experience

• 2019-22: Minnesota – Running Backs / Assistant Head Coach 
• 2017-18: Minnesota – Running Backs 
• 2016: Western Michigan – Running Backs
• 2014: Wyoming – Receivers
• 2010-13: North Dakota State – Receivers
• 2008-09: Southern Illinois – Tight Ends
• 2007: Millersville (Pa.) – Running Backs

Earlier this week, Gopher Running Back Coach, Kenni Burns, was listed as one of the top candidates for the vacant Head Coaching job at Eastern Illinois.

Sources: Kenni Burns a strong candidate at Eastern Illinois https://t.co/7uEM34ITWK

— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) December 7, 2018

Well, just a couple of days later and, according to the same source that listed Burns as a top candidate, it looks like Kenni was offered the job and turned it down.

Update…. Source tells FootballScoop Burns has turned down this opportunity and will remain at Minnesota. https://t.co/aPOtsEIauR

— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) December 9, 2018

Now, Eastern Illinois isn’t a blue-blood football school by any means but it’s definitely a good spot to start your head coaching career. The former NDSU WR Coach, however, seems to find it a better option to remain at Minnesota for now…

Sometimes, when something like this happens, you see a promotion quickly follow, from in-house. Early on, I haven’t seen anything validating that idea.

Eastern Illinois Spark Notes:

• Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo both started their football fame at Eastern Illinois
• Eastern Illinois won its last conference (Ohio Valley) Championship in 2013 
• Eastern Illinois has only two losing seasons since 2013 (2014 | 5-7 & 2018 | 3-8)