Independence assistant Greg Burns named next Dickson County football coach

Tom Kreager
The Tennessean

Former Independence assistant coach Greg Burns has been named the new football coach at Dickson County, principal Joey Holley confirmed to The Tennessean.

Burns spent the past seven seasons with Scott Blade at Independence.

"I'm from a small town in Louisiana," said Burns, 40, who is taking his first head coaching position. "The first time we went there while I was an assistant at Independence it reminded me so much of home. I had some nostalgia even back then."

Burns, who played football at McNeese State, held various coaching duties at Independence, including junior varsity coach, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, safeties coach and cornerbacks coach, Blade said.

"They are getting a passionate coach that cares a lot about his players," Blade said. "He has trained and prepared for this opportunity. He's a great coach that is going to pour everything he has into getting Dickson County back to where they want to be."

Burns replaces Randy Murphree, who resigned after four seasons as the Cougars coach. Dickson County went 1-9 in 2019.

Murphree went 8-32 in four years and didn't reach the TSSAA playoffs in his tenure. The Cougars have been in a Williamson County dominated Region 6-6A the past three seasons and have gone 0-15 in league play.

Burns said the Cougars will run a version of the spread on offense, but will cater it to his team's strengths. He said he will start interviewing assistants on staff on Tuesday.

"It's an opportunity to be at a school that has some cool traditions," Burns said. "They've had some winning football teams. They are just missing a little spark to bring that back.

"They can be the biggest show in town, and they should be. That's what we are trying to do."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.