Belleville East football in transition as Harrison steps down, new coach hired
When late August arrives, there will be a new face on the sidelines leading the Belleville East Lancers football team.
Former Missouri Baptist University head coach Jason Burianek was approved Tuesday night by the District 201 School Board as the head coach of the Lancers program.
It’s an exciting and welcome change of pace for Burianek, who parted ways with Missouri Baptist last November after starting the program and leading it for 12 seasons.
“College football is changing with the transfer portal and all that stuff and this is going to give me a chance to be around my family, my kids are getting older and I’ll be able to watch them as they’re involved with sports,” said Burianek, who lives in Okawville. “It will be a good change and this is a great school, great program, so I’m excited to take it over.”
Belleville East athletic director Joe Nesbit said Burianek’s resume stood out among a strong pool of 12 to 15 applicants. According to Nesbit, Burianek’s mix of high school and college experience—including coaching stints at Belleville West (twice), McKendree University and Colorado—gave him the edge over other candidates.
“That experience at the next level that he’s had, we’re looking at that as something that can have a profound impact on our athletes—not only if they choose to pursue football after high school, but just having a lot of knowledge of life after high school, especially as it pertains to college athletics, we think will be a really good asset for our students and their families,” Nesbit said.
Nesbit believes Burianek was the best fit for the Lancers head coaching job and said the school is looking forward to his leadership this fall.
“Coach Burianek stood out a little bit from the rest and so we’re happy to offer him the job and thrilled that he accepted and we’re looking forward to the future,” Nesbit said.
Burianek’s hiring follows former head coach Michael Harrison’s decision to step away from coaching at Thanksgiving last year. Harrison, who is also the school’s dean of students, said he wanted to spend more time with his four young daughters and pursue an opportunity in school administration.
“I’ve got four little girls at home and they’re all getting big and starting to do different things, so that was weighing kind of heavily on me and they’re starting to play sports and obviously I want to be there for them,” Harrison said. “Also, there was an opportunity to go into school administration and that’s something that I couldn’t pass up as well. So I think all of those things at the same time led into that decision.”
Harrison was approved by the school board Tuesday night to become an assistant principal at Belleville East and will transition into that role this fall.
Harrison reached out to Burianek about taking the job at East after he decided to step down last fall. The two coached together at McKendree University from 2007 to 2012.
Harrison, who posted a 36-32 record over seven seasons with the Lancers, believes the program is in a good place and that Burianek will continue its recent success, which includes an 8-3 season in 2025 and four straight playoff berths.
“I felt like we’re in a really good spot and we have a really good team coming back next year and our program is continuing to grow and Coach B. is going to do a good job of keeping it rolling and continuing to grow it and I look forward to us continuing to keep that playoff streak alive,” Harrison said.
Burianek is currently working at Belleville East as a substitute teacher and is expected to be placed in a permanent role at the school at the start of the next school year.
He has recently met with East standouts James Johnson Jr., CJ Willis and Killian Rauch.
“I’ve met with the captains during our recent lift sessions and they’re all good kids,” Burianek said.
Harrison said his staff has agreed to work with Burianek for this season.
Burianek is looking forward to leading the program and continuing the streak of postseason appearances the Lancers have posted since 2022.
“The standard is to move it forward and knock off Edwardsville and make it to the playoffs and see about making it to the third round (of the playoffs) however we can,” Burianek said.
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 5:30 AM.