What was he Thinking?
It’s been 17 years since Phil Bennett walked off the field as the head coach of SMU. Already with four games remaining in the 2007 season, Bennett’s Mustangs were involved in a wild triple overtime game at Memphis in the finale in late November.
Like everything else that could have gone wrong that season, this one did as well. SMU fell, 55-52. It marked the fifth game that season SMU lost by one score. Three by a field goal or less. The Mustangs finished 1-11. Bennett’s career ended at 18-52.
After spending parts of six decades serving as a defensive coach, defensive coordinator, head coach, interim head coach and everything else in between, Bennett put down his headset for good in 2022 and retired. He finished as North Texas’ interim head coach when the Mean Green played in the Frisco Bowl.
Coaches are ones who typically do not embrace their accomplishments. They are creatures of habit. Their minds are too consumed with the disappointments.
That’s where Bennett stands with SMU. For the six seasons he served as SMU’s steward, that era will always burn inside.
“I’ve always loved SMU,’’ Bennett said earlier this week. “But in my 44 years, not flipping that thing is my greatest disappointment. I wish it could have gone different. I felt like we were so close and were getting there.
“But it always seemed like when we took two steps forward, we took another step back.’’
These days, Bennett’s tasks are filled with finally conquering an 18th hole at a College Station-area golf course and sinking that elusive birdie putt. He did this past Wednesday. Then it’s going around the speaking circuit and perhaps helping in a coaching clinic.
The 68-year-old wants to stay connected to the game but at a pace that fits where he is in his life.
Bennett has always kept up with SMU. And as the days tick off the calendar toward the university becoming a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Bennett couldn’t be happier….for an employer that terminated him.
“I’m tickled that SMU made a commitment to empower themselves,’’ Bennett said. “I’ve always believed SMU belonged in a P5 setting. I saw them back in the Pony Express days. They made SMU important. And with Dallas being a pro town, they were a player. They know they can be with the hierarchy in a league. They made a stand.’’’
Bennett’s run at SMU probably exposed really where the football program was. It was arguably at its first major crossroads.
The Mustangs were still in the Western Athletic Conference. The last of the Southwest Conference-type of players SMU could have legitimately recruited against Baylor and Texas Tech were long gone. The Mike Cavan era had gone from boom to bust. The type of players Bennett inherited from Cavan earmarked the drop off in talent from what Cavan inherited from Tom Rossley.
More importantly, the stench of the Death Penalty still hung over University Park. Sure, SMU was playing its 14th season of Division I football (2002) since it returned in 1989. However, SMU remained in a never-forgive-itself mode.
Academic standards for football players remained punitive. Athletic friendly majors were limited to mainly Communications and a few others. However, there wasn’t the diversity other football programs offered.
When Bennett mentioned two steps forward, one step back, it brought me to this crystallizing thought: Self-sabotage.
While the scandal leading up the Death Penalty was a nightmare, SMU couldn’t break free from beating its breast. It couldn’t and wouldn’t move forward.
It’s like that dog that has been beaten so many times that when the master raises his hand, the dog dejectedly lowers its head and closes its eyes because it knows what’s coming.
As Bennett said, “At some point we had to stop beating ourselves up for the Death Penalty.’’
Indeed 17 years later, it is a stark contrast to the mentality when SMU is coming off its first conference championship in 40 years, recruiting at a national level, currently procuring a Top 25 class and hearing the national pundits speak ambitiously about the potential of an epic debut P4 season.
Bennett credits the late Lamar Hunt for convincing him to leave his defensive coordinator position at Kansas State and come to SMU. There was no greater supporter.
It made sense. Both were from Texas. Hunt was running the Kansas City Chiefs. Bennett was 90 minutes away in Manhattan, KS.
However, when Hunt went through and eventually lost his battle with prostate cancer in late 2006, it also created a void for Bennett. Hunt was for Bennett what David Miller is now for SMU.
“The Hunts were so involved getting me there,’’ Bennett said. “When he passed, I lost one of my biggest avenues. I knew we had a lot of work to do. We had guys that were vested. But not like what Mr. Miller is doing.”
Bennett discussed the creation of a committee to evaluate prospects – the same as DeSoto coach and former SMU assistant Claude Mathis discussed last week – who may not have met the criteria of a 3.0+ GPA and a four-figure SAT score.
Bennett said five people sat on the committee including Assistant Dean for University Curriculum Dr. Vicki Hill. Some made it through. Others did not.
One of the greater misses was then Bishop Lynch running back Ryan Moats. Bennett recalled how badly Moats wanted to attend SMU. However, he didn’t make it through the committee. Moats went on to attend Louisiana Tech, win WAC 2004 Offensive Player of the Year honors and spend five seasons in the NFL.
“We put him in the audition,” Bennett said. “He goes in there and comes out. And within five minutes he gets declined.”
The rebuild incurred other serious hits led by the 0-12 2003 season. Signs of life appeared at 5-6 in 2005 that included the stunning 21-10 upset of TCU. That was SMU’s first year in Conference USA. Then there was the 6-6 2006 season, the second non-losing campaign since 1989.
There was also the missed opportunity. Much like the 1997 team that needed to win on the road at TCU to secure a bowl bid and did not, the 2006 Mustangs headed to Rice at 6-5. SMU lost 31-27, didn’t make the postseason and Bennett couldn’t finish the game because he was on the wrong end of a sideline collision near the end of the first half.
Two steps forward. One step back.
“It was devastating,’’ Bennett said.
Everything related to football is that it will always be a results business. While there was decent talent for 2007 between wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson, offensive linemen Josh LeRibeus and Bryce Tennison – those two eventually redshirted – defensive back Bryan McCann and defensive end Cory Muse, the losses mounted. Time expired for Bennett.
New athletic director Steve Orsini fired Bennett when the Mustangs officially became bowl ineligible at 1-7. In a twist that you don’t see today, Orsini allowed Bennett to complete the season.
Bennett never experienced the changes SMU started to make as a whole. Under June Jones, the program started accepting transfers. The most notable was running back Shawnbrey McNeal who returned from Miami (FL) and was paramount in SMU playing in its first bowl in 2009.
Perhaps the best ally in SMU’s return from the Death Penalty to now competing at the highest level is simply time. The wounds were deep. It has taken 35 years for those to heal.
Bennett’s timing at SMU may not have been right. And his frustration will stir. But in some way, it served its purpose for the program eventually crawling its way out.
“I’m proud of Rhett [Lashlee],’’ Bennett said. “Going into the ACC, they’re lucky to have him. I look at the ACC and think they can be competitive. Last year, they proved that. They have a chance to make it a happening.
“I knew it would take someone like David Miller to help SMU get to this point. That is their school. They love it. SMU deserves something like this.”
*****
Now, a look at other SMU sports….
>This reminder that SMU women’s track standout Funminiyi Olajide will continue her season at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this coming Thursday in Eugene, OR. The long jump is slated for a 7 p.m. start time. Her first jump of 6.70 meters broke her own school record and secured her spot with a fifth place finish at the NCAA West First Round on May 24 in Fayetteville, AR.
> SMU men’s golf wrapped up its season with a 26th-place finish at the NCAA Championship from Omni La Costa Champions Course.
The Mustangs came into the final day before the first cut in a tie for 22nd place. They bounced around all day with a strong front nine. They finished the day alone in 26th place, 19 strokes back of an advancing position.
The Mustangs wrap up their season with a top 26 national finish, their best showing since 2021. They set the SMU scoring record for a single season along the way. They finished second at the AAC Championship for the program’s sixth consecutive top three showing at conference. The team finished in a tie for fourth at the NCAA Regional, thanks in part to a SMU record low round of 265 in round two.
> SMU rowing had two fourth place finishes and a fifth-place finish on Saturday at the NCAA Championship from East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, OH.
SMU finished in fifth in varsity eight. They recorded a time of 6:46.753, just three seconds behind fourth-place Boston University (6:43.521).
In the second varsity eight, the Mustangs finished in fourth ahead of Jacksonville by 11 seconds. They crossed the line in 6:56.578.
SMU recorded a fourth-place finish in the varsity four. They finished the race in 7:48.129, good for 5.575 seconds ahead of fifth-place Jacksonville.
The Mustangs will compete in the D final in all three boats on Sunday. They will be in contention for spots 19th through 22nd.
Let’s make it a great week. Pony Up!
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