Gary Mihoces

USA TODAY Sports

In a back-to-the-future move by USA Wrestling, Bruce Burnett has returned to his former role as national freestyle coach and will continue through the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero.

"It's pretty exciting," the 64-year-old Burnett told USA Today Sports in a phone interview Tuesday from Dover, Idaho, where he has been enjoying fishing, mountain biking and cross country skiing since retiring last September after 13 seasons as coach at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The job opened up in early April when Zeke Jones left to become coach at his alma mater, Arizona State. Burnett, who held that USA Wrestling post from 1993-2000, said he was initially contacted by USA Wrestling to "help" with the transition to a replacement.

"Then it went a little bit further than that after about two weeks, and they asked me if I would come back," said Burnett.

He talked it over with his wife, Karen.

"Really a tough choice because it really impacts my life and what our plans were," said Burnett. "But at the same time God sometimes puts thing in our way that certainly are unexpected. We were prayerful about it and made the decision to get back in and help where we can."

He said when he left the Naval Academy he figured his coaching days were done. "No question about it. I was confident my profession career ended in Annapolis, 100 percent sure,'' he said.

But he has stayed involved with international wrestling over the years, coaching in the Pan Am and University Games. In mid-March, he was a volunteer assistant with the U.S. team for the World Cup in Los Angeles.

That stoked his competitive fire.

"Honestly … that really did help me get excited about it again," he said.

"First of all, we lost to Iran in the semifinals of the World Cup, which honestly is unacceptable. … When I left there I told the team I was working with, 'You guys are going to have to continue just getting better. The talent is here to win the world championships. But you've got to continue to get better. Personally, I'm going to get back to Idaho and fish and ride a mountain bike.' "

Change in plans.

Burnett has had both hips replaced, neck surgery and three knee scopes. "It's kind of the nature of the business," he said.

But he's back to the mats.

"I'm of sound mind. I'm not sure about my body," said Burnett, who was traveling Tuesday from Idaho to New York for a USA Wrestling event on Wednesday night in Times Square that will match U.S. all-stars against wrestlers from other nations.

During Burnett's previous stint as national coach, Team USA won five medals at the 1996 Olympics (three gold, one silver, one bronze) and four at the 2000 Olympics (one gold, one silver, two bronze).

"We are incredibly fortunate to have one of the greatest coaches in Team USA history again lead our program," Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling, said in a press release. "Coach Burnett is considered by many as one of the top strategists ever in international wrestling. His proven ability to connect with elite-level wrestlers bodes well for Team USA heading into Rio. Our high expectations for this team just got higher."