Burnet girls athletic coordinator Gates resigns
Rick Gates resigned as the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District girls athletic coordinator, girls basketball and golf head coach June 10 to become the girls basketball head coach at Burkburnett High School.
He’ll also be an assistant track and field coach.
Gates is the latest coach to turn in his Kelly green. Kurt Jones retired as the school district’s safety and athletic director, while Bryan Wood resigned to keep a promise to Ben Speer, his defensive coordinator. That promise was to resign and “do everyting I can” to help Speer become the head coach, which happened. Keith McBurnett retired as the school district’s superintendent.
“There were changes with the new superintendent and athletic director,” Gates said. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. Things change all the time.”
Gates was on the Burnet CISD staff for eight years. In his first year, he was the Burnet boys basketball varsity assistant coach on head coach Roy Kiser’s staff. And though he hadn’t coached girls before, he applied and was selected as the leader of the Lady Dawgs and witnessed some incredible growth and accomplishments.
The basketball and volleyball teams made the playoffs every year Gates was at the helm. Only twice did the basketball team not win a bi-district championship. The program won five bi-district and five area playoff games, two regional quarterfinal contests and two regional semifinal matches. The squad’s best finish was the 2018-19 season when the Lady Dawgs were a Class 4A state semifinalist.
The volleyball team won four bi-district titles, three area titles and reached the regional tournament once. The soccer team advanced to the playoffs six times with three district titles, two area and two regional quarterfinals championships and a regional tournament appearance. The softball team has four consecutive playoff appearances with a district title, two bi-district and two area crowns.
And while all of those feats are impressive, Gates noted the big reason he applied for the job was because daughter Grace was in the sixth grade the year it came open.
“My daughter was coming up,” he said. “I knew the talent level on the girls side. I felt like there was a whole lot of talent coming through. It’s obviously up to the coaches to get the full potential out of the athletes. I felt like we did that.”
Injuries to key basketball players in two different seasons left questions for Gates because he’ll wonder what might have been if those athletes were available. The most recent was when MaeSyn Gay suffered a leg injury during the second game of the district campaign during the 2022-23 season.
“As great as those runs were,” the coach said, “it would have been better had we not had the two key injuries. I was super proud of everything the girls accomplished.”
He pointed out there wasn’t a magic formula or shortcuts for all the Lady Dawgs earned.
“They came in and understood what it took to win and trusted in what we were doing,” Gates said. “The older girls did a really good job of mentoring the younger ones. I can’t tell you how much that led to success, especially on the girls side. The fact they were able to keep that in check and reach out shows an understanding that it was good for the team.”
He attributes that mindset to the way the players are being raised.
“They’re very mature young ladies,” he said. “It speaks a lot to the parents and families. They were brought up that way.”
Gates thought for a moment when asked how he wanted to be remembered.
“I hope they remember me as a coach who cared about the kids and treated them fairly, always with an eye that it’s the team first and individuals second,” he said. “I think that’s the way it has to be to be successful. You have to feel like you’re doing what’s best for the team as a whole.”
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