{"id":54248,"date":"2024-06-02T01:40:53","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T06:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=54248"},"modified":"2024-06-02T01:40:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T06:40:53","slug":"what-was-he-thinking-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/what-was-he-thinking-9\/","title":{"rendered":"What was he Thinking?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been 17 years since Phil Bennett<\/a><\/strong> walked off the field as the head coach of SMU. Already with four games remaining in the 2007 season, Bennett\u2019s Mustangs were involved in a wild triple overtime game at Memphis in the finale in late November.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s career ended at 18-52.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 interim head coach when the Mean Green played in the Frisco Bowl.<\/p>\n

Coaches are ones who typically do not embrace their accomplishments. They are creatures of habit. Their minds are too consumed with the disappointments.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Bennett stands with SMU. For the six seasons he served as SMU\u2019s steward, that era will always burn inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved SMU,\u2019\u2019 Bennett said earlier this week. \u201cBut 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it always seemed like when we took two steps forward, we took another step back.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

These days, Bennett\u2019s 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\u2019s going around the speaking circuit and perhaps helping in a coaching clinic.<\/p>\n

The 68-year-old wants to stay connected to the game but at a pace that fits where he is in his life.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t be happier\u2026.for an employer that terminated him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tickled that SMU made a commitment to empower themselves,\u2019\u2019 Bennett said. \u201cI\u2019ve 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.\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Bennett\u2019s run at SMU probably exposed really where the football program was. It was arguably at its first major crossroads.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Academic standards for football players remained punitive. Athletic friendly majors were limited to mainly Communications and a few others. However, there wasn\u2019t the diversity other football programs offered.<\/p>\n

When Bennett mentioned two steps forward, one step back, it brought me to this crystallizing thought: Self-sabotage.<\/p>\n

While the scandal leading up the Death Penalty was a nightmare, SMU couldn\u2019t break free from beating its breast. It couldn\u2019t and wouldn\u2019t move forward.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

As Bennett said, \u201cAt some point we had to stop beating ourselves up for the Death Penalty.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bennett credits the late Lamar Hunt<\/strong> for convincing him to leave his defensive coordinator position at Kansas State and come to SMU. There was no greater supporter.<\/p>\n

It made sense. Both were from Texas. Hunt was running the Kansas City Chiefs. Bennett was 90 minutes away in Manhattan, KS.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong> is now for SMU.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hunts were so involved getting me there,\u2019\u2019 Bennett said. \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett discussed the creation of a committee to evaluate prospects \u2013 the same as DeSoto coach and former SMU assistant Claude Mathis<\/strong> discussed last week \u2013 who may not have met the criteria of a 3.0+ GPA and a four-figure SAT score.<\/p>\n

Bennett said five people sat on the committee including Assistant Dean for University Curriculum Dr. Vicki Hill. Some made it through. Others did not.<\/p>\n

One of the greater misses was then Bishop Lynch running back Ryan Moats<\/strong>. Bennett recalled how badly Moats wanted to attend SMU. However, he didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put him in the audition,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cHe goes in there and comes out. And within five minutes he gets declined.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rebuild incurred other serious hits led by the 0-12 2003 season. \u00a0Signs of life appeared at 5-6 in 2005 that included the stunning 21-10 upset of TCU. That was SMU\u2019s first year in Conference USA. Then there was the 6-6 2006 season, the second non-losing campaign since 1989.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t make the postseason and Bennett couldn\u2019t finish the game because he was on the wrong end of a sideline collision near the end of the first half.<\/p>\n

Two steps forward. One step back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was devastating,\u2019\u2019 Bennett said.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong> and Aldrick Robinson,<\/strong> offensive linemen Josh LeRibeus<\/strong> and Bryce Tennison<\/strong> \u2013 those two eventually redshirted \u2013 defensive back Bryan McCann<\/strong> and defensive end Cory Muse<\/strong>, the losses mounted. Time expired for Bennett.<\/p>\n

New athletic director Steve Orsini fired Bennett when the Mustangs officially became bowl ineligible at 1-7. In a twist that you don\u2019t see today, Orsini allowed Bennett to complete the season.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best ally in SMU\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Bennett\u2019s timing at SMU may not have been right. And his frustration will stir. \u00a0But in some way, it served its purpose for the program eventually crawling its way out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of Rhett [Lashlee]<\/a><\/strong>,\u2019\u2019 Bennett said. \u201cGoing into the ACC, they\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Now, a look at other SMU sports\u2026.<\/p>\n

>This reminder that SMU women\u2019s track<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

> SMU men\u2019s golf<\/strong> wrapped up its season with a 26th-place finish at the NCAA Championship from Omni La Costa Champions Course.
\u00a0
The Mustangs came into the final day before the first cut in a tie for 22nd\u00a0place. They bounced around all day with a strong front nine. They finished the day alone in 26th\u00a0place, 19 strokes back of an advancing position.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

> SMU rowing<\/strong> had two fourth place finishes and a fifth-place finish on Saturday at the NCAA Championship from East Fork\/Harsha Lake in Bethel, OH.
\u00a0
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).
\u00a0
In the second varsity eight, the Mustangs finished in fourth ahead of Jacksonville by 11 seconds. They crossed the line in 6:56.578.
\u00a0
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.
\u00a0
The Mustangs will compete in the D final in all three boats on Sunday. They will be in contention for spots 19th\u00a0through 22nd.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s make it a great week. Pony Up!<\/p>\n

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