KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
SMU’s Phil Bennett, at Aloha Stadium, has faced adversity in his 23-year journey to becoming head coach.
Moving on IT was a big move for Phil Bennett.
SMU coach Phil Bennett
returns to Hawaii a new manBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comFrom longtime assistant to head coach.
It's taken 23 years to get to this point. And he has a lot of work to do at Southern Methodist, which brings an 0-4 record into tomorrow's football game against Hawaii at Aloha Stadium.
But the 46-year-old Bennett is a patient man. He is committed to rebuilding the Mustangs' program, one that has had only one winning season since 1989 (6-5 in 1997), the first year the sport was reinstated after the NCAA's two-year "death penalty" for recruiting violations.
"Like anything, it's going to take time," said Bennett.
He was referring to football, but it's how the former Texas A&M defensive end is dealing with life. It's how he's moving on without his wife, Nancy, who died in 1999 after being struck by lightning while out jogging.
When he left his assistant's job at Kansas State to become the head man at SMU last December, it was Bennett's ninth move in 20 years.
It was also the first time since his bachelor days that he was packing up the house without Nancy.
"She used to tell me that being a football coach's wife is not a job, it's a lifestyle," said Bennett. "And that's what it is. You take the good with the bad.
"She was quite the football coach's wife. No, she didn't see me become a head coach and that's been bittersweet because she was committed to what we were doing everywhere we went."
There were plenty of stops for the two of them, beginning with Iowa State in 1983, the year they were married. Purdue, LSU, Texas A&M, TCU, Oklahoma and Kansas State followed.
Bennett built his coaching reputation on defense, especially at K-State, where the Wildcats ranked second, fourth and third nationally in defense in his three seasons.
That his Mustangs have been outscored 131-43 in four games -- 49-0 in the second quarter alone -- sticks in his craw. As does last week's 52-16 shellacking at Oklahoma State, a game in which SMU trailed 45-0 at halftime.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was frustrating," said Bennett. "We're giving up too much and not scoring enough.
"And we have a challenge ahead of us, our third straight road game against a good team. (Hawaii coach) June Jones has built his program into something special. They've got a lot of momentum going. And this is a tough place to play."
Personally, Hawaii is a tough place to return to. It's where he and Nancy honeymooned nearly 20 years ago.
"The memories are good ones," he said. "I look at life these days and I can count my blessings."
Two of those are his children, 14-year-old son Sam and 11-year-old daughter Maddie. He brought both to Hawaii last spring when he spoke at a clinic at Turtle Bay and again this week for the game.
Also here is older brother Jerry, who joined the Mustangs' staff as running backs coach this season.
"He's going to do a good job for us," said Phil Bennett. "Sometimes it's a little hectic but it's good to have him with us."
The feeling is mutual for Jerry Bennett, who saw his tough younger brother crack at times after the tragedy. Nancy Bennett was in the hospital for two weeks without regaining consciousness before finally passing away, and her husband cried for what seemed forever over the loss of his best friend.
"But he's a tough, tough guy," said Jerry Bennett. "Since we were young, he was always the tough guy. He knows that with those two kids he has to move on."
And Phil Bennett has. The move to Dallas has reunited him with both his wife's side of the family and that of his own.
He has a girlfriend.
He has a new life.
Now he's trying to bring back to life the once proud SMU football tradition, a tradition he wanted to be a part of after high school until he was persuaded by his mother Faye to attend Texas A&M. A tradition of four bowl games between 1980 and 1984 and one where the names of Don Meredith, Eric Dickerson, Craig James, Kyle Rote, Lamar Hunt, Forrest Gregg, Reggie Dupard and Doak Walker were once shouted.
Bennett hears those names, even if they are merely whispers. Some wonder if he's the only one listening.
The rebuilding won't be easy. Nor will earning recognition and respect. Big D loves its Cowboys, Longhorns, the Aggies and, lately, the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
The online readers of the Dallas Morning News can sign up for free weekly football newsletters from Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, none of which are located in the Metroplex. SMU is, right off Central Expressway, just six miles south of downtown.
Click on the Morning News link to SMU and the headline is "Recruiting among coach's new challenges." However, the story is not about Bennett, it's about new Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, who was a keynote speaker at the SMU Athletic Forum this past week.
"I knew what I was getting into," said Bennett. "I knew going in it was going to take some work and I'm committed to getting it done.
"We're building. I'm not much into making excuses and there are no excuses for last week. The kids are working hard, they still have a good attitude. They know we'll work our way out if this."
Things are tough right now but it will get better.
Bennett knows. It just takes time.
When: Saturday, 6:05 p.m. Hawaii vs. SMU
Where: Aloha Stadium
Tickets: $21 sideline, $16 end zone, $12 students/seniors, UH students free (super rooter only).
TV: KFVE (Channel 5), delayed at 10 p.m., with rebroadcast Sunday at 9 a.m. Also available live on Pay-Per-View.
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
UH Athletics
