Keith Burns will undoubtedly enter the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame as a Bulldog, but his coaching contributions to three total county schools certainly helped pave the way into this year’s class.

The 1971 Hanceville graduate and 10 others will officially be inducted on Saturday, April 27 at the Civic Center. The annual banquet is slated for 6:30 p.m.

“Well, you know, since I played at Hanceville, went to school at Hanceville and coached there for 15 years, and basically I’m being inducted from Hanceville, I’ll certainly be wearing my purple on the 27th,” Burns said. “But I still have some Cold Springs gear and some West Point gear that I wear from time to time. I’m really proud of those two areas as well.”

Burns experienced a couple of emotions upon hearing of his inclusion in the CCSHOF’s 20th class. The first was shock, quickly followed by complete and utter happiness.

“You always look at it, and you think, ‘Man, I know there are a lot of candidates out there that are probably more deserving,’” he said. “But I’m certainly humbled and honored to have been selected.”

Burns racked up a handful of county championships during his playing days with the Dawgs, collecting three on the football field and another couple as an outfielder and catcher on the baseball diamond. As if that weren’t enough, he rounded out a three-sport résumé by adding track into the mix.

Burns kicked off his coaching career at Cold Springs and established the Eagles’ junior high football program before returning home to coach the same level at Hanceville. He didn’t taste much defeat in his 10 years atop the team, leading the Bulldogs to seven county championships and a 36-game win streak at one stretch.

The junior high success translated into a promotion to varsity defensive coordinator in 1990. A year later, Burns ascended to head coach. He opened his four-year reign with back-to-back playoff appearances — including a 9-3, second-round run in 1992 — and consecutive picks as Cullman County Coach of the Year.

Burns doubled up as the Dawgs’ track coach and, unsurprisingly, consistently kept the program at or near the top of the county food chain. Hanceville’s boys cranked out seven county titles under his guidance, while the girls grabbed three.

Burns took his talents to a third county school in the mid-‘90s. This time, the beneficiary was West Point, where he served as varsity offensive coordinator from 1995-98 and varsity baseball coach from 1996-99.

With it being the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame, Burns is understandably honored to have earned his induction by leaving a mark at multiple county schools.

“It means so much,” he said. “All three of those communities are great communities with great people. The young people I’ve had to work with … those relationships that you build in those communities, with the parents, with the young men and women that you coach, I wouldn’t trade anything for that.

“Just the other day, I ran into a guy that I coached at Cold Springs, and that was in, let’s see, ’78, ’79. You run into those guys, and you see that they have been successful in life, and it just means so much for the privilege of getting to work with people like that.”

Burns has been retired since 2014 but remains grateful for the people he now “works” with — though it’s a significantly younger crowd.

He and his wife built their home in the middle of a 35-acre piece of land and are fortunate to be surrounded on either side by their two daughters and four grandchildren. Burns happily carries two of the tots to school every morning, picks them up every other Friday and “stays very busy” running around to watch the quartet’s various sporting events.

The soon-to-be CCSHOF inductee may claim he’s retired, but it sure sounds like he’s been handed a new position as professional grandparent.

“Yeah,” Burns said, “and that’s the best job I think you can ever have.”