Thoughts from SMU Fans (Phil Bennett)

[Big Hoss]

He seems to have had a lot of bad luck here.....lost games in some strange ways....including his last game

If by strange ways you mean poor game and clock management, then yes, he lost games in strange ways.

There were a handful of games during his tenure where we were down by less than a TD, didn't have our full compliment of timeouts, the game was under 3 minutes to go, and we decided to punt the ball away vs. going for it on 4th and less than 5 at our own 40 or so. Most of those times, as I expected, we didn't get the ball back. I only point out my expectations to say that if I didn't think it was a smart choice, and I am FAR from being a football head coach, then it should have been fairly obvious for a guy in that chosen profession.

Having said all that, I do think he would be a great DC. As others have stated, he seemed a bit overwhelmed with his first head coaching job. Too bad, because he's really a great guy from what I can tell.

[expony18]

He seems to have had a lot of bad luck here.....lost games in some strange ways....including his last game

could you imagine him leaving any other way... man that ending was brutal, but kind of funny when you put his whole tenure in perspective... pretty much said it all when he called the timeout

[SWC2010]

H.. Bennett was completely overwhelmed by the job of head coach.

I would love nothing better than to have him all the way in Marshall. It is never a place I thought he would be. The farther away from Texas the better.

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The results of his HC career at SMU could be summarized in Chapter One of the "Peter Principle"

[Dark Horse]

Kansas State showed he can coach.
As for the "he can't recruit" stuff .... I disagree. He came to SMU with a reputation as a stellar recruiter. As head coach, he had assistants who did all the legwork — he was merely a closer on deals. I think it's safer to say he had some assistants who didn't always get the deals done. Many of them were good recruiters, I guess, because many of them got some legitimate players. I get the sense that not enough players were presented for him to close deals, rather than him not being able to.
He's better get one hell of a raise to move from Dallas to Huntington, W.V.

[Big Hoss]

He's better get one hell of a raise to move from Dallas to Huntington, W.V.

Any story I hear about the state of West Virginia typically talk about how poor the communities are, and how their school systems are so lacking. Not sure it would be high on my list for places that I would want to live.

[SWC2010]

I think Phil made a wise decision to move on a job now rather than sittig out a season.

After JJ takes the same basic team next year & wins 5-6 games, people may start believing what PB used to proclaim:

that he has forgotten more about football than... well, he just forgot more!

[SoCal_Pony]

I would rather see PB recruiting for Marshall than Baylor

[MrMustang1965]

Oh, Marshall University...I thought it was Marshall High School in east Texas.

[huskerpony]

He's better get one hell of a raise to move from Dallas to Huntington, W.V.

Any story I hear about the state of West Virginia typically talk about how poor the communities are, and how their school systems are so lacking. Not sure it would be high on my list for places that I would want to live.

WV is beautiful, but yes, much of it is very poor. That being said--have you ever been to Manhattan, Kansas? That wouldn't be high on my list either!

[Maryland78]

My opinion is that PB was NOT a good recruiter at SMU because he apparently was very stubborn about not going after players that did not attend SMU's camp...that seemed very foolish to me...sure a camp would be a great indicator of a kid's talent levels and expose them to SMU...but I certainly would have expanded my horizon, if I were in his shoes...just my two cents.

[SMU2007]

it'd be fun to see PB back here if he goes to marshall.

[Bergermeister]

Phil Bennett is one of 4 finalist that will interview for Marshall's vacant D- Co-ordinator job.

He went to Marshall High School - that oughta be a good fit for him. Going back to the ol' alma mater.

[Mustangsabu]

"WE...ARE...MARSHALL"

I think Phil would enjoy being at a university where they loudly proclaim things...good fit for his defense

Marvellous!

[SMUstang]

He seems to have had a lot of bad luck here.....lost games in some strange ways....including his last game

I wouldn't call it bad luck. I'd call it poor coaching. Don't get me wrong, I was pulling for Bennett to succeed, but he just couldn't seem to motivate the kids or give them any kind of an edge. We lost untold numbers of games in which we were 2 or 3 touchdowns ahead in the 2nd half. We lost all of our OT games, of which there were many. I think he would be a good coordinator, but he was not head coach material.

[SMUstang]

He seems to have had a lot of bad luck here.....lost games in some strange ways....including his last game

I wouldn't call it bad luck. I'd call it poor coaching. Don't get me wrong, I was pulling for Bennett to succeed, but he just couldn't seem to motivate the kids or give them any kind of an edge. We lost untold numbers of games in which we were 2 or 3 touchdowns ahead in the 2nd half. We lost all of our OT games, of which there were many. I think he would be a good coordinator, but he was not head coach material.