Phil Bennett
Phil Bennett went 19–53 as a head coach, 2002–2022, at SMU, Pittsburgh and North Texas. Share
- Record
- 19–53 career
- Seasons
- 8
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Dec 3, 1955
- Alma mater
- Texas A&M
- Best season
- 2010 8–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | SMU | 3–9 | T–6th | |||
| 2003 | SMU | 0–12 | 10th | |||
| 2004 | SMU | 3–8 | T–6th | |||
| 2005 | SMU | 5–6 | T–3rd (West) | |||
| 2006 | SMU | 6–6 | 4th (West) | |||
| 2007 | SMU | 1–11 | 6th (West) | |||
| 2008–09: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2010 | Pittsburgh interim, bowl game | 1–0 | BBVA Compass Bowl W | |||
| 2011–21: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2022 | North Texas interim, bowl game | 0–1 | Frisco Bowl L | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 5 | 1–4 | 20% |
| Against rivals | 17 | 4–13 | 24% |
| Conference games | 48 | 14–34 | 29% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 23 | 7–16 | 30% |
| At home | 35 | 14–21 | 40% |
| On the road | 35 | 4–31 | 11% |
| At neutral sites | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 16 | 9–7 | 56% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 56 | 10–46 | 18% |
His own 72 games on file, 2002–2022, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Patterson 2002–2007 | 1–4 | TCU | 5 | |
| Mike Leach 2002–2007 | 0–5 | Texas Tech | 5 | |
| Steve Kragthorpe 2003–2006 | 2–2 | Tulsa | 4 | |
| Ken Hatfield 2002–2005 | 1–3 | Rice | 4 | |
| Mike Price 2004–2007 | 1–3 | UTEP | 4 | |
| Fitz Hill 2002–2004 | 1–2 | San José State | 3 | |
| Jack Bicknell Jr. 2002–2004 | 1–2 | Louisiana Tech | 3 | |
| Art Briles 2005–2007 | 1–2 | Houston | 3 | |
| Les Miles 2002–2004 | 0–3 | Oklahoma State | 3 | |
| Pat Hill 2002–2004 | 0–3 | Fresno State | 3 |
Phil Bennett’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Tulsaseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| UTEPseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Riceseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| TCUseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Texas Techseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| San José Stateseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Houstonseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Louisiana Techseries | 3 | 1–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–81 | Texas A&M | Defensive ends coach | |
| 1982 | TCU | Tight ends and tackles coach | |
| 1983 | MacArthur HS (TX) high school | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1984 | Iowa State | Linebackers coach | |
| 1985–86 | Iowa State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1987–90 | Purdue | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1991 | LSU | Outside linebackers coach | |
| 1992–93 | LSU | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 1994 | LSU | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 1995–96 | Texas A&M | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1997 | TCU | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 1998 | Oklahoma | Defensive backs coach and co-recruiting coordinator | |
| 1999–2001 | Kansas State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2002–07 | SMU | Head coach | |
| 2008–10 | Pittsburgh | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2010 | Pittsburgh | Interim head coach | |
| 2011–16 | Baylor | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2017 | Arizona State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2021–22 | North Texas | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| 2022 | North Texas | Interim head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Emory BellardTexas A&M
- Tom WilsonTexas A&M
- F. DryTCU
- Jim CrinerIowa State
- Chuck BankerIowa State
- Fred AkersPurdue
- Curley HallmanLSU
- R.C. SlocumTexas A&M
- Pat SullivanTCU
- John BlakeOklahoma
- Bill SnyderKansas State
- Dave WannstedtPittsburgh
- and 4 more
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jim GushGarden City, Navarro
- Bernard ClarkRobert Morris
- Jeff HafleyBoston College, Miami Dolphins
- Joe BernardFairfield
Worked under (16)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emory Bellard | Texas A&M | 1978 | Defensive ends coach | |
| Tom Wilson | Texas A&M | 1978–81 | Defensive ends coach | |
| F. Dry | TCU | 1982 | Tight ends and tackles coach | |
| Jim Criner | Iowa State | 1984–86 | 1984: linebackers coach; 1985–86: defensive coordinator | |
| Chuck Banker | Iowa State | 1986 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Fred Akers | Purdue | 1987–90 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Curley Hallman | LSU | 1991–94 | 1991: outside linebackers coach; 1992–93: assistant head coach and linebackers coach; 1994: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| R.C. Slocum | Texas A&M | 1995–96 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Pat Sullivan | TCU | 1997 | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| John Blake | Oklahoma | 1998 | Defensive backs coach and co-recruiting coordinator | |
| Bill Snyder | Kansas State | 1999–2001 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Dave Wannstedt | Pittsburgh | 2008–10 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Art Briles | Baylor | 2011–15 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Jim Grobe | Baylor | 2016 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Todd Graham | Arizona State | 2017 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Seth Littrell | North Texas | 2021–22 | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (4)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Gush | SMU, 2002: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2003–07: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; North Texas, 2022: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Garden City, Navarro | |
| Bernard Clark | Pittsburgh, 2010: linebackers coach | Robert Morris | |
| Jeff Hafley | Pittsburgh, 2010: defensive backs coach | Boston College, Miami Dolphins | |
| Joe Bernard | Pittsburgh, 2010: strength consultant | Fairfield |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Larry Edmondson | SMU, 2002–03: offensive coordinator | |
| Blake Miller | SMU, 2003: offensive line coach | |
| Rusty Burns | SMU, 2004–07: offensive coordinator | |
| Brian Angelichio | Pittsburgh, 2010: offensive coordinator | |
| Frank Cignetti Jr. | Pittsburgh, 2010: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Luke Getsy | Pittsburgh, 2010: graduate assistant | |
| Mike Bloesch | North Texas, 2022: offensive coordinator | |
| Tommy Mainord | North Texas, 2022: co-offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Arizona State | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $166,333 | $650,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Bennett’s teams went for it on 17% of fourth downs and on 27% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 49% of plays and took 24.3 seconds a play, 2004–2007.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 4 g | 7 of 34 21% | 29% | 52% | 18.6 | −0.11 | |
| 2005 8 g | 10 of 76 13% | 20% | 48% | 25.6 | −0.14 | |
| 2006 12 g | 14 of 81 17% | 28% | 48% | 26.4 | −0.06 | |
| 2007 8 g | 12 of 63 19% | 31% | 51% | 22.8 | −0.03 | |
| All 32 g | 43 of 254 17% | 27% | 49% | 24.3 | −0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.