Education
Bennett graduated from Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University with a degree in education in 1978, and was a second-team All-Southwest Conference defensive end as a senior in 1977.
assistant football coach player head
Bennett graduated from Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University with a degree in education in 1978, and was a second-team All-Southwest Conference defensive end as a senior in 1977.
He is the defensive coordinator of the Baylor Bears college football team Prior to coaching the Panthers, he served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2002 to 2007. Before his stint at SMU, he served as an assistant coach at seven different colleges.
He began his coaching career at Agricultural and Mechanical in 1979 as a part-time defensive ends coach.
Since then, he has also held coaching positions at Texas Christian University (1982, 1997), Iowa State University (1983–1986), Purdue (1987–1990), Louisiana State University (1991–1994), a second stint at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (1995–1996) and the University of Oklahoma (1998). During his years as an assistant coach he has coached many stand out players, including Mark Simoneau and Terence Newman.
On October 28, 2007, SMU athletic director Steve Orsini fired Bennett. Orsini notified Bennett that he would be dismissed after the Mustangs" last game on November 24, 2007 against the University of Memphis.
University of Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt named Bennett his defensive coordinator on February 4, 2008.
After Wannstedt"s resignation in December 2010, he announced on January 3, 2011 that he was declining to coach in the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Compass Bowl. Bennett was promoted to interim head coach of the team and lead the Panthers to a 27–10 victory of Kentucky. On August 11, 1999, Bennett"s 41-year-old wife, Nancy, was killed by lightning while she was jogging near their home in Manhattan, Kansas.
The story of the Bennetts" relationship and the subsequent death of Nancy was the subject of a 1999 feature article in Sports Illustrated, as well as College Gameday on December 6, 2014.
Bennett has since re-married and has two stepdaughters. Katie and Megan.