Saturday afternoon the North Texas football program announced the hiring of former SMU head coach Phil Bennett as the Mean Green’s newest defensive coordinator. The former Mustang head coach has served as defensive coordinator to nine different Power 5 programs throughout his college football journey.
Earlier in the month the program parted ways with former defensive coordinator Clint Bowen and announced cornerbacks coach Clay Jennings and defensive line coach Eric Mathies would not be returning for the 2021 season.
“Clint and I had some discussions and decided together this was the best move for all involved,” Littrell said. “It was a difficult season to navigate for everyone, and that was no different in our case. I think coach Bowen is a very good coach but things don’t work out the way you plan. I want to thank coach Bowen for what he put into our program this past year and wish him and his family the best in the future.”
Bennett has served as a defensive coordinator at Iowa State (1984-1986), Purdue (1987-1990), LSU (1994), Texas A&M (1995-1996), TCU (1997), Kansas State (1999-2001), Pittsburgh (2008-2010), Baylor (2011-2016) and Arizona State (2017).
He was the head coach at SMU for six seasons between 2002-2007 and served as an interim head coach at Pittsburgh in 2010. As a head coach, his record is 19-52.
Courtesy Jerome Miron
Article Originally Published by Preston Rios on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily