The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Phil Bennett

Phil Bennett moved North Texas from Regional Program V to Regional Program IV in 1 season.

Peak, then fade
19–53
2002–2022 · 3 stints
SMUPittsburghNorth Texas
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerSMUPITTSBURGHNORTH TEXASPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelSMU, 2002: 3-9, Regional Program IV2002SMU, 2003: 0-12, Regional Program V2003SMU, 2004: 3-8, Regional Program V2004SMU, 2005: 5-6, Regional Program V2005SMU, 2006: 6-6, Regional Program V2006SMU, 2007: 1-11, Regional Program V2007-4.6Pittsburgh, 2010: 1-0, Power Program III2010+2.6North Texas, 2022: 0-1, Regional Program IV2022+1.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 7th career season — faster than 21% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #297 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

SMU, 6 seasons
−4.6
Regional Program IV → Regional Program V.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

North Texas2022–2022– 0.0pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

2–9 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Mike Leach.

Rivalry record
2–9
18.2% · 2 rivals
One-score games
7–15
31.8% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
Rice1–517%
TCU1–420%
The toughest matchup
vs. Mike Leach0–5
5 meetings, 2002–2007
’02 L’03 L’04 L’06 L’07 L
0% win rate across a real, 5-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Power Program
0–3 0.0%
National Program
2–16 11.1%
Regional Program
15–33 31.2%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.30
#57 of 319 · more than most
Defense marginal impact
-0.08
#216 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2022–2022
North Texascaretaker
Regional Program V → Regional Program IV
Phil Bennett moved North Texas from Regional Program V to Regional Program IV in 1 season.

12th-best North Texas tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+37.5 pts
#8 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
-38.4 pts
#202 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Succeeded by Eric Morris (2023–2025).

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals
10
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
22
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-12
#125 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)
6′1″, 226 lbs
across 8 of 10 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
-0.8 lbs
#240 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Sr
#1 of 255 · more than most
Top states: TX (5), LA (1), FL (1), MO (1)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
36.5
position-weighted
Talent lost
49.6
position-weighted
Net
-13.1
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Grant Gunnell (QB) from Memphis
Biggest loss: Kason Martin (QB) to Eastern New Mexico
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Postseason detail2022: Lost to Boise State 32–35 Frisco Bowl Presented by SERVPRO
0–1
2010–2010
Pittsburghcaretaker
National Program I → Power Program III
Phil Bennett moved Pittsburgh from National Program I to Power Program III in 1 season.

11th-best Pittsburgh tenure of 23 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Todd Graham (2011–2011).

7 NFL Draft picks: Nate Byham (2010), Dorin Dickerson (2010), Jonathan Baldwin (2011), Jabaal Sheard (2011), Dion Lewis (2011), Jason Pinkston (2011), Greg Romeus (2011)

1–0
2002–2007
SMUcaretaker
Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV
Phil Bennett held SMU at Regional Program IV for 6 seasons.

18th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Mike Cavan (1997–2001) · succeeded by June Jones (2008–2014).

2 NFL Draft picks: Kevin Garrett (2003), Justin Rogers (2007)

18–52