Jerod Rye takes over as Burnet QB coach, offensive coordinator
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
BURNET — Jerod Rye has accepted the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator position at Burnet High School.
Head coach Kurt Jones announced the addition July 24.
Rye was the Burnet Middle School boys athletics coordinator last year after spending eight years elsewhere. He was the offensive coordinator at Burnet High School in 2004, the same year Jones took over as defensive coordinator under former head coach Bob Shipley.
“We’re super confident in him,” Jones said. “He has tons of experience in the spread offense and in our style of the spread offense. He’s not going in there to try to reinvent the wheel.”
Rye takes over for Andy McHazlett, who resigned July 9 to become the La Pryor High School principal. The timing of the resignation might have left Jones scrambling to fill a position of need in a short amount of time. Texas Education Agency allows teachers to resign by July 10.
But that wasn’t the case for Jones, he said. That’s because he knew he had highly qualified candidates in Rye and assistant head and receivers coach Billy Cook.
“Coach Cook does so much for the offense,” Jones said. “Billy plays such a critical role up in the press box. He’s our eye in the sky, and he has great influence.”
While Rye will be the offensive play caller, Jones said he and Cook will offer Rye suggestions depending on the defensive setup and the abilities of the offensive players.
With Rye moving to the varsity staff, that meant Jones had to find a new Burnet Middle School coordinator. He chose Justin Marcellus, who was at Lampasas Independent School District almost a decade ago. Most recently, he was at Grapevine Independent School District.
“He was interested in getting to Burnet, and we were very interested in talking to him about the job,” Jones said. “We feel like we landed a good person in that spot. It’s hard to find good people, and the timing was right for him to come.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com