A patient FrontBurnervian offers his thoughts on Coach Bennett. They’re a touch lenghthy, so I’ll put ‘em after the jump. This particular FrontBurnervian reminds us of Coach’s decision to suspend QB Justin Willis for a game the Mustangs could have easily won with him under center. He went for integrity instead of the win. And remember Willis is threatening to leave SMU voluntarily if Bennett is forced to leave otherwise. Coach has character. Hope that’s impressive enough for Orsini.
I was conflicted about the direction of SMU football until the last three games of last season. Winning those games gave me hope SMU was headed in the right direction.
I knew going into this season that the biggest problem the team had was identifying a starting quarterback. Without exhibition games to see how people played, I knew we’d lose the Tech game to start the season as we tried to figure this out. Unfortunately, we also lost the UNT game and it gave me pause to wonder what was up. The next two games erased all doubts and confirmed we had found a competent quarterback. Best of all, he’s a redshirt freshman.
Then we had a game on the road in an emotional superdome for Tulane’s first home game in more than a year. We won that too. I was thrilled. What happened next is what has cemented in my mind the thought that Phil Bennett is the right guy for SMU.
Starting QB Justin Willis got involved in some kind of fight off campus. Bennett probably could have gotten away with doing nothing until the legal system worked this out. But he didn’t. He suspended his starting quarterback for the UTEP game. It was the right thing to do. SMU lost that UTEP game by 3 points. A great effort, but it was clear to all that if Willis had played, SMU would have won. Bennett did the right thing and it cost us our shot at a bowl game. It tells me Bennett has the kind of character and integrity that is lacking in many coaches.
I also happen to think Bennett is a pretty good coach. I think he needs some better assistant coaches. (something SMU has under-funded for years) I suspect the end result of these discussions with Mr. Orsini will see some changes on the staff – but not at the top.