December 20, 1996
FORT WORTH - TCU has appointed Phil Bennett to the position of football defensive coordinator, replacing the departing Pat Henderson, it was announced Friday.
Bennett, a native of Marshall, Texas, served the past two seasons in the same coaching capacity for Texas A&M. Prior to A&M, he had spent four years at LSU, the last three as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. In his first season on the LSU staff Bennett had been in charge of the Tigers' outside linebackers.
Following the 1995 season at A&M, Bennett was honored as the NCAA Division I Defensive Coordinator of the Year by American Football Quarterly. At LSU he had turned the Tigers' defensive fortunes sharply, improving that unit's standing in the SEC from 12th in 1993 to No. 1 in 1994.
From 1987 through 1990, Bennett was the defensive coordinator at Purdue, and he had served in the same role during the four previous seasons (1983-86) at Iowa State University.
"We are extremely excited to have Phil join our staff," said TCU head coach Pat Sullivan in making the announcement. "His coaching background speaks for itself. He started his coaching career right here (TCU). Coach Bennett's Texas background and his respect, as both a coach and a person, makes him a perfect fit for us."
Bennett had arrived at Iowa State after one campaign (1982) at TCU where he served as a graduate assistant coach for the Horned Frog offense. The 41-year-old Bennett embarked upon his college coaching career at his alma mater (Texas A&M) as a part-time defensive ends coach from 1978 through 1980.
TCU's newest football coaching addition was a standout defensive end at Texas A&M, earning sec- end-team all-SWC honors in 1977. As a coach and player, Bennett has been involved in six post-season bowl games.
Bennett, who will also tutor the Horned Frogs' secondary, said his defensive approach at TCU "will be a multiple four-man concept, multiple yet simple ... I want to stress simple. We plan to mix man-to- man and zone coverages.
"Our goal will be to develop an attack style defense, rather than a read-and-react style ... one aimed at putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback," he continued. "We want our defenses to dictate what the opposing offenses do. Defensive players seem have a lot more fun operating from this approach, and having fun in football is very important."
Bennett established himself as an all-everything high school footballer at Marshall High School. His senior year he was an all-state linebacker at Marshall. He earned his B.S. in physical education from Texas A&M in 1978. He is married to the former Nancy Harris of Alvarado, and they have one son, Sam, and a daughter, Madeline.
"We all sincerely appreciate the effort Coach Henderson has given to TCU, our staff and our players. "
The departing Henderson stated: "Shortly after the end of the season, Coach Sullivan and I discussed the direction of the program. We both agreed that there were some philosophical differences between us. It was mutually decided that I would continue to work hard for the University while investigating other job opportunities. He, in turn, would seek a suitable replacement. As we are both very close to accomplishing these objectives, we felt it was time (for me) to move on, as so many others are affected by this decision. I will miss the many relationships I have made, especially those of the players, but I know that the decision will be best for everyone in the long run.
Henderson also pointed out that under his direction, the TCU defense finished fifth out of 16 teams in the WAC in 1996, despite having 31 starts by players not originally listed on the starting unit going into the season. Depth was especially a problem in the secondary after three junior college signees, all expected to fill voids left by graduation, failed to enroll in the fall.
In his previous two seasons at TCU, the defense managed to shave seven points per game of its scoring defensive stats while helping guide TCU to its first back-to-back winning seasons in 30 years, a share of the Southwest Conference title and a trip to the Independence Bowl in 1994.