Get to Know: Franklin Head Football Coach Anthony Burgos

Indians head coach Anthony Burgos led Franklin football on a riveting run through the Maryland State Playoffs a year ago, reeling off three straight post season wins before falling to Wilde Lake in the 3A Championship.

However, in making that run, Burgos proved that hard work, integrity and dedication to his coaches and players makes all the difference in building a strong football program.

In Patch’s new “Get to Know” feature, the soft spoken Burgos sits down for a conversation on his emotions during the playoff run, the cornerstone choices he’s stuck by for his program, his pet peeves (on and off the field) and more.

Patch: Take me back to this past year’s playoff run. Close wins over North Harford and Huntingtown. Have you ever experienced anything like that? Describe your emotions during those games.

Burgos: Those games were, I’d have to say right now, the climax of my coaching career—especially the North Harford game. Going up there in a situation where it’s cold weather, their hometown, the 10-0 record they had and they beat Hereford which was our only familiar rival—that was tremendous. Then coming down to the wire and being able to pull that off in the last couple seconds of the game … that was definitely an emotional high. I was a little nervous after the game because it was such an emotional high. I didn’t know how we’d respond to that.

Patch: How do you get this year’s squad to have reasonable expectations themselves and make it their own season?

Burgos: I’ve been talking to the guys all off-season about that, and its even got to the point where I had to really get into them that the past year is over. That team is not back. Navassa Brown, Mark Venable, Joey Dorsey, those guys aren’t going to be in the huddle this year. Our main focus really is to understand that you can’t live off of last year, you got to move forward.

With us graduating 28 seniors this is a fairly new team. We have several guys that were on that team that are returning and those are the guys I’m going to look to and say ‘hey, you guys have been here’. Obviously with Ian Thomas, Anthony Taylor, Cyril Nuworsoo, Brady Orem, and Shaquille Melvin. I’m just naming the guys I’m really going to rely on to bring the experience of winning those big games.

Patch: When you became head coach seven years ago, what were some of the decisions you made and policies you’ve really stuck to that have led to the program’s success? Things that you won’t budge on.

Burgos: I won’t budge on integrity. I tell the team all the time, we’re either going to do things the right way or we’re not going to do them. We’ve been catching a little grief, naturally when you’re winning people think you are doing things that you aren’t supposed to be doing. We’ve been really focused on playing with the guys that show up. Me and [athletic director Rich Reed] talk about all the time, the guys that show up on August 13^th [first day of practice], those are the guys we are going to win with.

We had an incident this year where we had a gentleman transfer to Franklin and could have been a tremendous asset to us in the championship and legally probably could have played for us. I think that was the high point my decision making as a head coach where I stuck to my guns and said we’ve talked about being a family since August. Having a guy come in in November to play for us—even though it gives us a better opportunity to win a state championship—it wasn’t the right thing to do before the playoffs and it panned out.

Patch: Seeing how many coaches you have under you—assistant coaches and position coaches—I’d imagine that a lot of them are volunteers. What does it say about your program that people are going out of their way to be a part of it?

Burgos: I think our guys do a great job of almost on a rotational cycle giving each other the opportunity to one year get paid and one year not get paid. I’ve kind of left that up to them. I have to thank Coach [Mark] Mesaros at Eastern Tech. Several years back I was talking to him and he talked to me about his program and how they run practice. We’ve been employing that at our place and it allows us to have one coach per position. It’s really been great … It’s about being there for the kids.

Patch: Every coach I’ve talked to has said how important it is to get coaches you can really work with. You have eight or nine guys that you really trust and are happy to have with you. How helpful is that?

Burgos: One of the keys to our successes is that we’ve had the same guys coaching. If you look at some of the successful college programs it’s guys that have tenure in their coaching staffs. Every year we’re not changing the ball. We might add one or two pieces, but the core of my coaches have been with me since 2002.  

Patch: Talking to you I can tell you’re a soft spoken, laid back, relaxed kind of guy. Is that your personality on the football field or do you change when you’re in between the lines on the field and become a little more intense?

Burgos: That’s what I tell my kids. You could be quiet, soft spoken, humble, but when you put the helmet on and get on the football field—to me my whole life it’s been a situation where I’ve been allowed to be somebody else for the two hours that I’m out there. My high school coach Al Thomas said, ‘Burgos, I’ve never even heard you speak until the first game of the year.’ It’s that football atmosphere, getting ready for game day that allows you to be somebody else and stop out of the box for a little while and have fun and do what you passionately love to do.

QUICK HITS

Full Name: Anthony Burgos

Nickname: Growing up in high school most guys called by my last name, that’s kind of a New York thing.

Age: 34

Family: Wife Nicole, sons Anthony Jr. (2) and Aiden (1 month)

Years Coaching at Franklin: Nine (eight as head coach)

High School: Wyandanch HS (New York, NY)

College: Western Maryland (now McDaniel College)

Hometown: Wyandanch, NY

Current Town: Windsor Mill, MD

Hobbies: I’m a big dog fan I have two American bulldogs, I actually breed them. That and any outdoor work and family time.

Favorite Sports Teams: I’m a Ravens fan. When I got here in 1997 the Ravens had just came to town and they practiced at Western Maryland so I felt like I could be a Ravens fan. But, my childhood team is the Jets. I’m a Yankees fan and ironically a Chicago Bulls fan, grew up during the Michael Jordan era.

Favorite Athletes: Freeman McNeil, Ken O’Brien (former Jets) and Walter Payton. Really more of a college guy, Tony Rice, Rocket Ismail and Jerome Bettis (former Notre Dame players).

Death Row Last Meal: I’m of a Latin background, so a good dish from my mom, Spanish rice with some beans and roast pork.

Favorite Restaurant: Me and my wife really love going to the Olive Branch.

Favorite Actor/Actress: Ben Stiller; Angelina Jolie

Favorite Movie(s): Young Guns, The Blindside, Rudy, Radio

Favorite TV Show: House

Comedian Guaranteed to Make You Laugh: Kevin Hart

Famous Person You Can’t Stand: Lebron James. I’ve been waiting for him to win me over. I’ve been waiting for him to do that special thing that makes him that great person. When you name yourself the king, I’ve been waiting for that moment to where I say ‘I can be a fan of yours’ and every year he lets me down.

Biggest Pet Peeve: People not being professional, especially in [coaching]. Not setting the right example. I’m not saying you do the right things all the time, but in the coaching business we’ve got to set the right example for the kids.

Biggest Football-Related Pet Peeve: Game day operations not running smoothly. I don’t want things coming in the way. I don’t need cheerleaders on the field when I’m supposed to be out there or if the AD has something going on and I have to change my routine. Just game day operations, I like it to run smoothly every time.

Piece of Technology You Can’t Live Without: My cell phone. Cell phones are big right now.