Chuck Bennett
Encyclopedia
Charles Henry "Chuck" Bennett (August 9, 1907 – June 9, 1973) was an American football
player and coach. He played halfback
for the Indiana University football team from 1926 to 1928 and won the 1928 Chicago Tribune Silver Football
trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference
. He also played professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans from 1929 to 1931 and for the Chicago Cardinals in 1933. After retiring as a football player, Bennett was a high school coach and athletic director from 1934 to 1966.
and attended Linton High School
. He led the school to two consecutive state football championships and was unanimously selected as an all-state halfback both years. He reportedly "built up his strong physique by hard work in the coal mines."
for the Indiana Hoosiers football
team from 1926 to 1928. During this time, he was five feet, nine inches tall and one hundred and ninety three pounds.
s in the season opener against DePauw
. Indiana won the season opener 31–7 but finished the season with a 3–5 record. Bennett scored seven of the team's eleven touchdowns.
, Minnesota
and Harvard
. In the Harvard game, played in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, Bennett accounted for Indiana's only points on a 30-yard touchdown run. At the end of the 1927 season, Bennett's teammates elected him offensive captain of the 1928 Indiana football team.
, Bennett scored both of Indiana's touchdowns on runs of 35 yards. Indiana won the opener 14–0. In the second game of the 1928 season, Bennett scored Indiana's only touchdown on a 30-yard run in a 10–7 win against Oklahoma
. The third game of the 1928 season matched Indiana against Michigan
at Michigan Stadium
. Indiana had never beaten Michigan, but Bennett played all 60 minutes of the game, and his long runs helped lead the Hoosiers to their first win against the Wolverines—by a 6–0 score. After winning the first three games of the season, Indiana played Big Ten Conference
champion Illinois
. Illinois won the game at Champaign, Illinois
by a score of 13–7. Bennett scored Indiana's only touchdown in the Illinois game on a 24-yard run, completed several forward pass
es and had the Hoosiers at Illini two-yard line when time ran out. Bennett's touchdown was the only one allowed by Illinois against any Big Ten team in 1928, and Illinois coach Bob Zuppke praised Bennett's performance. Bennett later led Indiana to a 6–0 win over Northwestern
with a 72-yard touchdown run down the sidelines on a muddy field in Bloomington, Indiana
. Bennett played his final game for Indiana on November 24, 1928 against Purdue
. Indiana lost the game 14–0 despite Bennett's gaining 149 yards on 35 carries, including runs of 28, 23, 14 and 12 yards.
Despite playing for a ninth place team that scored only 55 points and compiled a 4–4 record (an average of 6.9 points per game), Bennett was awarded the 1928 Chicago Tribune Silver Football
trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference
. He was also invited to play on the East team in the annual East-West Shrine Game
in California. Bennett scored two touchdowns for the East team and won the game's Outstanding Player award. After Bennett was awarded the Silver Football trophy and played in the Shrine Game, Indiana coach Pat Page praised Bennett in an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune
:
Bennett also received the first Balfour Award in football as Indiana's most valuable football player. He was also a popular student on the Bloomington campus, where he was elected president of the junior class and was a member of Delta Upsilon
fraternity and the Sphinx Club, an honorary organization.
. The Spartans in 1929 were an independent team and did not become part of the National Football League
until 1930. The signing of Bennett was intended to lend credibility to the fledgling organization. At the time of Bennett's signing, the Portsmouth Daily Times
noted: "His presence on the team will add a lot of color, prestige and, best of all, a real driving power. He is a demon in toting the pigskin." Bennett played professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans from 1929 to 1931. He also played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1933.
. He coached at LaPorte from 1934 to 1937. In May 1937, he accepted a position as football coach and athletic director at the high school in Austin, Minnesota
, where he remained for two years.
In 1939, Bennett was hired as a football coach and athletic director at Lyons Township High School
in La Grange, Illinois
. He coached the Lyons Township football team for 21 years and won 11 West Suburban Conference
championships. Players he coached include future Buffalo Bills
and Denver Broncos
head coach Lou Saban
. In 1958, the Chicago Tribune
credited Bennett with turning the school into an athletic power: "In his 20th year as athletic director and football coach at Lyons Township High school in La Grange, Chuck Bennett can point with pride to a truly impressive record -- certainly one of the best in the Chicago area prep field."
Bennett resigned as head football coach in 1960 but continued to serve as the school's athletic director. On 20 occasions, Bennett won the President's Cup at Lyons Township, awarded for overall sports supremacy in the West Suburban Conference. He retired as athletic director at Lyons Township in June 1966 due to ill health.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach. He played halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for the Indiana University football team from 1926 to 1928 and won the 1928 Chicago Tribune Silver Football
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
. He also played professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans from 1929 to 1931 and for the Chicago Cardinals in 1933. After retiring as a football player, Bennett was a high school coach and athletic director from 1934 to 1966.
Early years
Bennett was born in Linton, IndianaLinton, Indiana
Linton is a city in Stockton Township, Greene County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,774 at the 2000 census. A coal mining city, it is located southeast of Terre Haute. The current mayor is Patti Jones....
and attended Linton High School
Linton-Stockton High School
Linton-Stockton High School is located in Linton, Indiana in Greene County. It is home to about 450 students. The mascot for this school is the Miner, and the school colors are red and blue. With Linton winning the majority of the games in recent years but Sullivan leading the series 51-41-2...
. He led the school to two consecutive state football championships and was unanimously selected as an all-state halfback both years. He reportedly "built up his strong physique by hard work in the coal mines."
College football
After graduating from Linton High School, Bennett enrolled at Indiana University where he played halfbackHalfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for the Indiana Hoosiers football
Indiana Hoosiers football
The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference.-Bowl games:...
team from 1926 to 1928. During this time, he was five feet, nine inches tall and one hundred and ninety three pounds.
1926
As a freshman in 1926, Bennett scored two touchdownTouchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s in the season opener against DePauw
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
. Indiana won the season opener 31–7 but finished the season with a 3–5 record. Bennett scored seven of the team's eleven touchdowns.
1927
In 1927, Indiana compiled a 3–4–1 record and scored 104 points in eight games. Bennett played all 60 minutes in the 1927 games against ChicagoChicago Maroons
The Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon, one of the school's colors. They compete in the NCAA's Division III. They are primarily members of the University Athletic Association and were co-founders of the Big Ten...
, Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers football
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...
and Harvard
Harvard Crimson football
The Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Harvard's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1873...
. In the Harvard game, played in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Bennett accounted for Indiana's only points on a 30-yard touchdown run. At the end of the 1927 season, Bennett's teammates elected him offensive captain of the 1928 Indiana football team.
1928
As a senior in 1928, Bennett gained acclaim for his durability and running. In the season opener against Wabash CollegeWabash College
Wabash College is a small, private, liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Morehouse College, Wabash is one of only three remaining traditional all-men's liberal arts colleges in the United States.-History:Wabash College was founded...
, Bennett scored both of Indiana's touchdowns on runs of 35 yards. Indiana won the opener 14–0. In the second game of the 1928 season, Bennett scored Indiana's only touchdown on a 30-yard run in a 10–7 win against Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
. The third game of the 1928 season matched Indiana against Michigan
1928 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1928 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1928 college football season. The team's head coach was Elton Wieman...
at Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Before playing football at the stadium, the Wolverines played on Ferry Field...
. Indiana had never beaten Michigan, but Bennett played all 60 minutes of the game, and his long runs helped lead the Hoosiers to their first win against the Wolverines—by a 6–0 score. After winning the first three games of the season, Indiana played Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
champion Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
. Illinois won the game at Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
by a score of 13–7. Bennett scored Indiana's only touchdown in the Illinois game on a 24-yard run, completed several forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
es and had the Hoosiers at Illini two-yard line when time ran out. Bennett's touchdown was the only one allowed by Illinois against any Big Ten team in 1928, and Illinois coach Bob Zuppke praised Bennett's performance. Bennett later led Indiana to a 6–0 win over Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats football
The Northwestern Wildcats football team, representing Northwestern University, is a NCAA Division I team and member of the Big Ten Conference, with evidence of organization in 1876...
with a 72-yard touchdown run down the sidelines on a muddy field in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
. Bennett played his final game for Indiana on November 24, 1928 against Purdue
Purdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
. Indiana lost the game 14–0 despite Bennett's gaining 149 yards on 35 carries, including runs of 28, 23, 14 and 12 yards.
Despite playing for a ninth place team that scored only 55 points and compiled a 4–4 record (an average of 6.9 points per game), Bennett was awarded the 1928 Chicago Tribune Silver Football
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
. He was also invited to play on the East team in the annual East-West Shrine Game
East-West Shrine Game
The East–West Shrine Game is an annual post-season college football all-star game played each January since 1925. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the net proceeds are earmarked to some of the Shrine's charitable works, most notably the Shriners...
in California. Bennett scored two touchdowns for the East team and won the game's Outstanding Player award. After Bennett was awarded the Silver Football trophy and played in the Shrine Game, Indiana coach Pat Page praised Bennett in an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
:
"Bennett is an inspirational player. He is a leader and he has proven himself a wonderful ball carrier on all occasions. He has had the real stuff to carry on for the last three years, working untiringly both in the spring and fall practices, and has missed few workouts in his three years."
Bennett also received the first Balfour Award in football as Indiana's most valuable football player. He was also a popular student on the Bloomington campus, where he was elected president of the junior class and was a member of Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...
fraternity and the Sphinx Club, an honorary organization.
Professional football
In June 1929, Bennett signed a contract to play professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans, predecessor of the Detroit LionsDetroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
. The Spartans in 1929 were an independent team and did not become part of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
until 1930. The signing of Bennett was intended to lend credibility to the fledgling organization. At the time of Bennett's signing, the Portsmouth Daily Times
Portsmouth Daily Times
Portsmouth Daily Times is a morning newspaper in Scioto County, Ohio with a print circulation of about 12,000. It first printed in 1852 and today is printed Tuesday through Sunday, and does not print on Christmas Day...
noted: "His presence on the team will add a lot of color, prestige and, best of all, a real driving power. He is a demon in toting the pigskin." Bennett played professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans from 1929 to 1931. He also played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1933.
Coach and athletic director
After retiring as a football player, Bennett became a football coach. He began his coaching career as a high school football and track coach in LaPorte, IndianaLaPorte, Indiana
La Porte is a city in La Porte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was 22,053 at the 2010 census. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the...
. He coached at LaPorte from 1934 to 1937. In May 1937, he accepted a position as football coach and athletic director at the high school in Austin, Minnesota
Austin, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,314 people, 9,897 households, and 6,076 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,168.2 people per square mile . There were 10,261 housing units at an average density of 954.3 per square mile...
, where he remained for two years.
In 1939, Bennett was hired as a football coach and athletic director at Lyons Township High School
Lyons Township High School
Lyons Township High School is a public high school located in La Grange, Illinois. Freshmen and sophomores attend class at South campus, located at 4900 S. Willow Springs Rd. in Western Springs, while juniors and seniors attend class at North campus, located at 100 S. Brainard Ave. in La Grange,...
in La Grange, Illinois
La Grange, Illinois
La Grange, a suburb of Chicago, is a village in Cook County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 15,608 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. He coached the Lyons Township football team for 21 years and won 11 West Suburban Conference
West Suburban Conference
The West Suburban Conference is an athletic conference in DuPage County and Cook County in the state of Illinois.The conference was founded in 1924.-Member schools:All of the schools are also members of the Illinois High School Association...
championships. Players he coached include future Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
head coach Lou Saban
Lou Saban
Louis Henry Saban was an American football player and coach. Saban played for Indiana University in college and as a pro for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference...
. In 1958, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
credited Bennett with turning the school into an athletic power: "In his 20th year as athletic director and football coach at Lyons Township High school in La Grange, Chuck Bennett can point with pride to a truly impressive record -- certainly one of the best in the Chicago area prep field."
Bennett resigned as head football coach in 1960 but continued to serve as the school's athletic director. On 20 occasions, Bennett won the President's Cup at Lyons Township, awarded for overall sports supremacy in the West Suburban Conference. He retired as athletic director at Lyons Township in June 1966 due to ill health.