[9][10] After graduating McGill, he returned home to Port Perry to be an assistant coach for the nearby Uxbridge Bruins of the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League for the 1985–86 season.
[5] For the 1986–87 season, Burnett became head coach of his hometown Port Perry Mojacks in the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League.
The Mojacks made it to the Provincial Final of the Clarence Schmalz Cup, but lost to the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League's Mooretown Flags 4 games to 1.
Twenty games into the season, Burnett was offered the positions of head coach and general manager of the struggling Niagara Falls Thunder.
[22] Burnett had greatly improved the Thunder by 37 points over the previous season, and was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy for OHL Coach of the Year.
Todd Simon led the team, and the league in scoring with 53 goals, 93 assists, and 146 points, to win the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy.
[31] Burnett coached Cape Breton in the 1993–94 AHL season to a 32-35-13 record, earning 77 points and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
Burnett rallied his team to two consecutive one-goal victories, winning 2–1, and 4–3 to claim his only J. Ross Robertson Cup to date as the Storm defeated Ottawa in five games.
The Mighty Ducks were led in scoring by Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, and finished with a 35–34–13 record earning 83 points and sixth place in the Western Conference.
[56] Burnett also added partial seasons from future NHLers Brian McGrattan and Sean McMorrow to improve the team record to 23–33–7–5, earning 58 points, and seventh place in the eastern conference.
Burnett acquired the OHL rights to overage forward Anthony Aquino in a trade with the Owen Sound Attack in the previous season.
Aquino was having a stellar season with the Generals, scoring 10 goals and 9 assists in only 14 games, when the league ruled him ineligible to continue playing on November 5.
Burnett's season looked to be over as the Petes held onto a 3–2 lead late into the third period, when Brandon Nolan tied the game with 3 seconds on the clock, then Nathan Horton scored the winner in overtime.
Second year forward Adam Berti emerged as one of the top scorers, with 17 goals and 29 assists, after being limited to just 15 games in the previous season.
Burnett was hired to become the head coach and general manager of the Belleville Bulls by a former high school friend, and team's new owner Gord Simmonds.
Burnett also found two other twenty-goal scorers in Evan Brophey (25), Cody Thornton (23), and the emergence of two future NHL-ers in rookies Matt Beleskey and Shawn Matthias.
Burnett solidified the team with OHL draft picks Shawn Lalonde and Marc Cantin on defence, and goaltender Edward Pasquale.
Donati led the team with 54 goals, 75 assists, and 129 points, winning the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the league's best overage player.
Burnett led the Bulls to the east division title and the Leyden Trophy with a 39–24–0–5 record, earning 83 points and second place in the conference.
The Bulls faced the sixth place Sudbury Wolves in the third round, and eastern Conference finals, and Burnett coached his ninth straight playoff victory by a 3–2 score in game one.
Burnett reached the J. Ross Robertson Cup final for the second time in his coaching career, as the Bulls faced the first place team in the regular season, the Kitchener Rangers.
Burnett and the Bulls qualified for the 2008 Memorial Cup as the OHL representative, since the Kitchener Rangers were already guaranteed a berth as the host team.
In the OHL draft, Burnett used his first pick to select local Quinte Red Devils goalie, Tyson Teichmann, followed up by centre Michael Curtis.
[98] Burnett had a lot of returning players for the 2012–13 OHL season, and added Niki Petti, Daniel De Sousa, Michael Cramarossa, and Chad Heffernan in the draft.
Burnett made key mid-season acquisitions to build the team, adding centreman and Belleville native Alan Quine, overage defenceman Jake Cardwell, and forward Tyler Graovac who would win the William Hanley Trophy as the league's most sportsmanlike player.
Burnett had returned his team to the third round of the playoffs for the fourth time since taking over in Belleville, and then faced the second place Barrie Colts.
[citation needed] Guelph saw more improvement during the 2018-19 OHL season, as the club finished in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 40-18-10 record, earning 90 points.
[citation needed] Many expected the Storm to struggle during the 2019-20 OHL season, as a number of veteran players graduated from the club following their championship run.
[citation needed] Burnett was back behind the Storm bench for the 2021-22 OHL season, leading the club to a 36-24-5-3 record, earning 80 points and finishing in fifth place in the Western Conference.
After the conclusion of the team's summer evaluation camp, Burnett resigned on August 18, 1998, to become an assistant coach for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the NHL.