2008 Woodie Awards
Bennett fired mid-season; will coach final four games
Mark Norris, Editor In Chief, mnorris@smu.edu
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
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Phil Bennett was fired Sunday as head coach of the SMU football team, but will stay on to coach the remaining four games this season. The decision came after a 29-23 loss at Tulsa that dropped the Mustangs to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in conference play and officially eliminated the team from bowl contention.
Athletic director Steve Orsini sat down with Bennett on Sunday afternoon and notified him of the decision.
"To say it doesn't hurt would be a lie, it does," Bennett said Monday at an afternoon press conference. "I am very disappointed that we came so close, but didn't get the program to the level we all wanted it to."
Orsini asked Bennett to stay on for the remainder of the season, and the coach enthusiastically accepted the offer.
"I don't want them playing for me," Bennett said. "I want them playing number one for their selves, their team, their program and this university."
The firing is the culmination of a season gone horribly wrong for the coach and his team.
Bennett said repeatedly before the season that he expected to take SMU to its first bowl game since the Death Penalty and legitimately challenge for a conference title.
Instead, the Mustangs got trampled in the nationally televised season opener against Texas Tech, squeaked out a win against North Texas and now find themselves mired in a six-game losing streak.
"It isn't a black and white thing, it's something you assess," Orsini said of the move occurring with games remaining. "You look at the whole program, which I always have, and we felt the time was right now to do that."
This season has been like others Bennett has coached, with SMU getting close but not quite where it wanted.
"We've been close. But you all know…close doesn't count," Bennett said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
AggieCoach.com
posted 10/30/07 @ 9:56 AM CST
Is there any chance that SMU is already talking to Texas A&M soon-to-be-fired Coach Dennis Franchione? Would he be the right fit for the Mustangs given his background with TCU, DFW recruiting and relationships with the Dallas-area media?
Pony Fan
posted 10/30/07 @ 3:03 PM CST
Sad day for Bennett, and SMU. Although this program has produced student athletes (emphasis- student) with one of the highest overall GPA's and graduation success rates in CUSA, not to mention NCAA, the light shines only on the programs success/failure on the field. (Continued…)
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