Dec 5, 2001

By JOHN McFARLAND
Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) - Phil Bennett, the Kansas State defensive coordinator with strong ties to Texas high school football, was introduced Wednesday as Southern Methodist's head coach.

Bennett was given a five-year deal to rebuild a program that has had just one winning season in the past 12 years.

"We need to win here and we need to win right away," Bennett said. "I think that our expectation is to win a (Western Athletic Conference) championship."

The Mustangs were 4-7 this season under coach Mike Cavan, who was fired Nov. 18.

Bennett, one of more than 50 coaches to apply for the job, said SMU's commitment to its football program won him over.

SMU last year moved into the $57 million Gerald J. Ford Stadium and has poured millions into a sprawling sports facility that includes a new weight room and practice fields.

"The commitment comes from the top," said Bennett, 46. "There are so many things we can sell to recruits."

Bennett, a native of Marshall, Texas, had been Kansas State's defensive coordinator since 1999. His defenses finished in the top five nationally each year he was there.

Kansas State had the nation's No. 1 pass-efficiency defense and No. 2 total defense in his first year. In 2000, the Wildcats ranked fourth in total defense. They were third this year.

He plans to bring some of that toughness to SMU, which yielded 35 or more points five times this season.

"Defense is an attitude," said Bennett, who played defensive end at Texas A&M from 1974-77. "We will be a team that goes into every practice with attitude."

Bennett, who recruited the Dallas area, Central Texas and East Texas as part of his Kansas State duties, said he believes SMU can compete for players with Big 12 schools such as Texas and Texas A&M.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think we were on equal footing," he said.

Bennett said SMU's academic reputation will make recruiting easier.

"I tell you what's appealing to me - being able to sell the academic success as well as the football success," he said. "A degree here is something I can go in a home and sell."

SMU athletic director Jim Copeland said the relationships Bennett has built with high school coaches will be a huge benefit.

"Our success is going to be coupled on our ability to recruit Texas," Copeland said. "All you have to do is mention Phil Bennett's name to high school coaches in Texas and they know who he is."

Bennett was Oklahoma's co-defensive coordinator in 1998 and TCU's defensive coordinator in 1997.

He was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator in 1995-96. He also was defensive coordinator at Louisiana State (1992-94), Purdue (1987-91) and Iowa State (1983-86).

Cavan, 22-34 in five years at SMU, came to the school in 1997 after kick-starting programs at Division II Valdosta State and I-AA East Tennessee State.

His first team went 6-5, SMU's first winning season since coming back from the NCAA's death penalty in 1989. But the Mustangs went 5-7 the following year, then 4-6 and 3-9.

SMU has struggled since the NCAA hit the school in 1987 with its harshest punishment, the "death penalty," after discovering that a banned booster paid 13 players thousands of dollars.

The once-proud program was forced to disband for one year, but the school opted to also sit out 1988.

Cavan was the most successful post-death-penalty coach. Tom Rossley was 15-48-3 from 1991-96, and Forrest Gregg was 3-19 from 1989-90.