Grant Freeman is approved as the new Burnet CISD athletic director

CAPTION: Grant Freeman (left) is the new Burnet Consolidated Independent School District athletic director. Celebrating the moment with him are son Jaxon, daughter Jordan and wife Hillary. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

It took less than 10 minutes for the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees to approve the hire of Grant Freeman as the new athletic director.

The board approved his hire during a special meeting June 16.

After board members voted and the meeting ended, they gave Freeman a standing ovation.

Before the motion and vote, Dr. Aaron Pena, the school district’s superintendent, told board members the feedback administrators received about Freeman.

“We do our normal reference checks and they came back positive,” he said. “We had so many people congratulating us on selecting coach Freeman. So many people know him and reached out. Coach, your entire family will be embraced by this community.”

Also in attendance was Freeman’s wife, Hillary, and their children Jordan and Jaxson.

Freeman, whose mother was a Kindergarten teacher and father was a coach and athletic director, stood and addressed the board and attendees after Pena finished speaking.

“Getting to meet people has been a blessing to me,” he said. “I’ve never been more excited about the opportunity like this one. Athletics is the front porch of the community. We’re excited to take this to a whole new level. We’re looking forward to it.”

Freeman is a 1999 graduate of San Angelo Lake View High School and later attended Angelo State University. 

He started his coaching career at Lake View in 2006 then went to Springtown in 2009. In 2012, he was named the boys basketball head coach at Comanche and held the same position at Brownwood from 2014-16. In addition, he was the Lions’ offensive coordinator. 

In 2016, he served as the Wichita Falls High School offensive coordinator and took over as the head coach in 2017, becoming the program’s 22nd head coach. He held that position for the next seven years.

Freeman took over as the Wichita Falls ISD athletic director Aug. 7, 2023 after Scot Hafley, who had the position, became the school district’s executive director of operations.

Wichita Falls ISD made the decision to go from three high schools — Hirschi, Rider and Wichita Falls — to two new high schools, which are Legacy and Memorial and were opened during the 2024-25 school year.  

According to reports, Freeman played a central role in helping the school district hire coaches and oversaw the new athletic facilities at each campus on top of other administrative duties. His work during this transition is a big reason why he was recently named the Region 2 Administrator of the Year by the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association.

“His experience, reputation and passion are my three top reasons,” Pena said about why he recommended hiring Freeman. “He’s done it all. He’s been the head coach of multiple sports; he’s done that for many years. As an athletic director, he’s had to tackle some of the most challenging situations. All the reports I heard is that he did it with grace and dignity.”

Freeman smiled broadly when asked why he wanted to take over as the Burnet CISD athletic director.

“I think the Burnet job is a great job,” he said. “I think it’s an outstanding opportunity for me to get to play a part. There’s a foundation and standard for excellence here. The people and community speak for themselves.”

Now that Freeman has been approved, he looked forward to meeting the student athletes and planned on doing that June 17.

“I’m chomping at the bit,” he said. “A lot of coaches poured into me. I saw coaches pour into kids. They helped kids in a transitional time.”

He noted sports teach individuals how to handle success, adversity and other important skills that go beyond the scoreboard. That’s why he wanted to be a teacher and coach and why he is now in sports administration.

Pena believes Freeman “will take Burnet CISD to the next level.”

“We’re getting somebody of great caliber in this position,” he said. “We have the pieces.”