Mullen chooses Jeremy Bennett

Bennett is well-known in Colorado schoolboy football circles, going back to his first assistant-coaching job at Jefferson High in 1995 with former Mullen coach Dave Sidwell. A Centaurus Warriors linebacker in Lafayette – and all-Skyline League performer -- who also played for a couple of seasons at Western State in Gunnison, Bennett has worked with the likes of Jim Bratten at Jefferson County’s Standley Lake and was a regional scout for Arena Football.

Over the past 15 seasons, he was head coach at nearby D’Evelyn, Jeffco’s high-end school that includes a junior high, is regarded as an “alternative educational environment” and is consistently in the top 100 in the U.S. His record with the mid-range Jaguars, who have a closed campus and employ a lottery system for enrollment, includes a 103-56 mark, 11 playoff appearances and 14 consecutive seasons of .500 or better.

“This is a dream job for me and an end-all,” Bennett said. “I want to coach as long as I can and when I’m done I want to hand in my keys at Mullen High school because this is my last stop."

“I’m a very loyal person and when this opportunity presented itself, I knew I wanted to go after it. It would take Mullen High School to pull me away from where I was at.”

Chosen by a Mustangs committee from 90-plus applicants and reviewed by Mullen administration, Bennett said he’s motivated by the facts he’s the program’s fourth coach in four years, the team has had three consecutive losing seasons (and five of the past seven), and has a following that’s hungry for a turn-around.

“We want to make Mullen football relevant again,” he said. “We want to make our student body and our enrollment have a team we’re comfortable with.”

Howard said he’s “super comfortable with this and he’s definitely the guy. I think Jeremy brings an understanding of who we are. He brings great energy and he’s ready to dig in with our student-athletes. He wants to love them up, he wants to put them on the right path. I think it’s great.”

A partner in a construction company, Bennett, in the process of compiling his staff and settling into his new position, also commented on other things:

--- On working with Bratten, considered one of the top coaches of his era: “I learned a lot from him, especially the integrity piece of when to let things go, and when to yell and when not to yell.”

--- On being a higher-level scout dealing with older players: “I realized I liked working with kids better.”

--- On his schemes: “I’m a spread guy on offense and I like to run the football, but also do some things and force some matchup problems. We can go four and five wide, but we’ll see where we’re best suited … On defense, I’m an odd-front guy, a base 3-4 team that has a different look depending on what we’re doing.”

--- On meeting some of the players: ”They’re frustrated and you can see it in their faces. I want to meet all of them and get them going.”

--- On trying to keep it timely and interesting for his players: “It’s a proven fact (in this age group) that after (1 hour, 35 minutes) of practice they start to tail off and if you get to 2 hours you’ve lost them. We won’t be on the field for more than 2 hours of practice. You have to be efficient. We’ll do a lot of things where practices are scripted.”

--- On multi-sport athletes (Bennett also wrestled at Centaurus): “Absolutely, 110 percent I am for them. I think if you’re focusing on one thing, you’re doing your body a disservice.”

Married with three grade-school-age children, Bennett also met with a group of Mullen parents and said “I told them we’re at Mullen. This is Mullen. I know it has been a little rocky. But this is one of the premier positions west of the Mississippi (River). We can’t lose sight of that. We will do this as a family, a family-based deal. We’re here for each other. This is very exciting for myself and my family. We’re going to generate that excitement and coaching for them to see and be excited about.”

Said Howard: “I think we got a great coach out of this process.”