TCU offensive lineman Ian Burnette medically retires, according to reports

We are still in a state of limbo as far as football goes this fall, but that hasn’t stopped the injury bug from hitting the Horned Frogs hard.

According to Jeremy Clark of 247 Sports, offensive lineman Ian Burnette is “done with football”, retiring after two years on campus that never saw the promising prospect see the field. He is no longer listed on TCU Football’s digital roster.

A coveted three star prospect out of Wimberley, TX, the 2018 signee was a top 40 lineman in the country, choosing to sign with TCU over schools like Arizona, Missouri, and SMU. At 6’3” and 305 pounds, Burnette was expected to be a solid contributor in his time at TCU, and was widely considered to have starting potential. After redshirting his first year on campus, Burnette sat out the 2019 season due to injury, and is now facing the end of his football career completely.

While Burnette would have had a lot of ground to make up this fall, he was looked at as a valuable rotation player that could have competed to start down the line at one of the guard spots. He is expected to remain at TCU as a student.

Burnette’s retirement follows Matthew Baldwin’s; the quarterback transferred from Ohio State a year ago, but missed all of 2019 due to back and knee injuries that he was never able to fully recover from. Much like Burnette, Baldwin was not expected to start in 2020, but was being counted on to provide depth. In his stead, the Frogs will turn to juco QB Stephon Brown and a contigent of walk-ons; to fill depth at guard, TCU will look to Wes Harris, Quazzel White, and Kellton Hollins, among others.

TCU Football players have returned to campus for voluntary workouts, with fall camp expected to begin in August. The season is scheduled to start on September 5th, when the Frogs travel west to play the Cal Bears in Berkeley.