When most people decide its time to retire, the remainder of their days are lived in relative leisure.
Some like to get a part time job to keep themselves busy and help pass the time.
Fewer still decide to start up an entire new project that will take up the majority of their free time.
Kenny Burton has found himself in the third category.
After retiring from coaching at the public school level, where he took Ridgeland High School, a new program, to the North State Championship numerous times, Burton was not ready to leave football entirely.
Instead, he decided to give coaching at the private school level a try.
When Benton Academy’s football coaching gig opened up, Burton leaped at the opportunity.
In many ways, the situation worked out perfectly for both parties.
“Retirement from the state got me here,” Burton said. “I retired from the state, but I still loved football. I bought 20 acres of land on the edge of Yazoo County, and this job came open. I called Mr. Flemming, and that’s the way it worked out. It was the ideal situation.”
After stints as the defensive coordinator at West Point and Houston, Burton went to Ridgeland High School for its first year as a school.
After the head coach left, Burton was promoted to the position.
“We had a fresh start at a fresh school,” Burton said. “It was kind of exciting to start a new program. We had a lot of kids that hadn’t had the opportunity to play football. The first two years was a lot like parks and rec., and we eventually had to change that mentality. We had to instill and build a program to win.”
Once the early portion of his tenure at Ridgeland came to a completion, Burton changed the focus to winning rather than just simply having fun, and the results quickly came.
He took them to two North State Championships, won three division titles and made the playoffs in 11-of-13 years as the head coach.
At the end of the day, Burton is proud of what he will be leaving behind at Ridgeland.
“I feel like we established some good groundwork so that Ridgeland can maintain and keep it going in the future,” Burton said.
The challenge for Burton will be “different,” though in many ways the same.
“It’s different, but it’s still football to me,” Burton said. “It’s still about the Xs and Os, and it’s still about the kids getting out and working. We’re going to set goals and achieve them.”
The good news for Burton is that Benton has had a strong football program in recent years, and he was able to do some work with them already.
“Benton has been a very good AA program over the last several years, and we hope to continue that,” Burton said. “I had the opportunity to do my first spring football with them. I had seven days of practice with them last month. I really thought it went well. We have some great kids.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Burton will have to adjust to the limited number of players he will have at the private school level.
“I like what I see, but I can’t compare on how aggressive we are going to be, and that’s going to be a big adjustment for me. We can’t hit and go against each other because of our numbers. We’ll have to do some half line and those type of things.”
Still, despite whatever negatives that Burton may be facing, he is still very excited about the athletes he will be working with this season.
“The kids had our system down pat in the first few days,” Burton said. “I’m excited about where we are. I think we show some team speed, and we have some pretty good size. I really like the whole team a lot.”
Burton will also not be taking this journey alone.
He will be bringing along another esteemed member of the retired public school coaching circle.
“I was able to hire Ron Oaks, who was the offensive line coach and then head coach at Horn Lake and offensive line coach at South Panola during some of their heyday years,” Burton said. “He’s a retried guy that was with Ricky Woods, who was in Starkville. He’s another experienced coach on the staff. We’re just ready to get the ball rolling. I’m excited.”
Benton Academy’s offseason will be in full swing beginning in June.
