Salpointe Catholic began hiring football coaches almost 70 years ago. The first was a basketball player from NAU, Larry Baroldy, who grew up a copper miner鈥檚 son in Globe.
What followed was a trackable procession of head football coaches unlike any school in 蜜柚直播 history: a lineman from the Pittsburgh Steelers (Lou Ferry); a lineman from Notre Dame (Don Huml); a head coach from both 蜜柚直播 State and 蜜柚直播 (Ed Doherty); an 蜜柚直播 Wildcat lineman who would go on to be the head coach at Idaho (Jerry Davitch); a UA assistant coach (Gene McCarter); a man who would go on to be a coach at Boise State, Nevada and Army (Bill Tripp); and a coach from St. Mary鈥檚, then the state鈥檚 ranking prep football power (Pat Welchert).
The legacy of coaching Salpointe鈥檚 football team was heavy with name recognition, although consistent success didn鈥檛 always accompany the image.
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Bene, running his offensive unit through game films of an opponent, guided the Lancers to the 2013 state title. 鈥淲inning that state championship validated everything,鈥 Bene says now. 鈥淚t was a long time coming.鈥
But in the spring of 2001, Salpointe hired a horse veterinarian from Nevada, a man who got the job, he says now, 鈥渂y default,鈥 after former Salpointe lineman Tom Joseph chose to remain at Mesa Mountain View, which he coached to the 2002 state championship.
One day last week, the man who got the job by default, Dennis Bene, sat in his modest office about 100 yards from Ed Doherty Field. Tom Joseph, now a Salpointe assistant coach, sat in a chair by Bene鈥檚 desk.
Bene was talking about Doherty, who was his coach in 1981 and 1982, and he did so with a tone of reverence.
鈥淓very Monday, Coach Doherty would call me out of my first period class to discuss my performance from Friday night,鈥 Bene said. 鈥淚 was so intimidated by that man; he wanted it perfect. I鈥檝e adopted that; I鈥檝e taken a lot of that with me.鈥
One of the keys to Bene鈥檚 success at Salpointe is that he has been smart enough to surround himself with longtime assistant coaches.
Doherty retired after Bene鈥檚 junior season, 1982, but was in the bleachers at Sahuaro High School when Bene broke the state鈥檚 single-game passing record, 425 yards, against the Cougars on Oct. 7, 1983.
The opposing quarterback that night was Rodney Peete, who went on to become a star at USC and runner-up in the 1988 Heisman Trophy balloting. It was Peete鈥檚 record that Bene broke, a game that seemed sure to define Dennis Bene鈥檚 football career.
But all that has changed. The former veterinarian from Northwest Missouri State enters Friday鈥檚 inaugural Open Division state championship race against Phoenix Pinnacle High School as the most successful football coach in Salpointe history, and it鈥檚 not even close.
He has proved that it鈥檚 not the name that matters, it鈥檚 the man.
Bene has coached the Lancers to 183 victories. In 2010, Bene passed the school鈥檚 record of 89 victories, set by Welchert, the man who hired Bene to be a low-level assistant in 1999.
Bene, taking a few snaps as a fill-in running back during practice, is also the vice president of his family鈥檚 Southern 蜜柚直播 Paving Co. operation.
Both Doherty and Welchert coached Salpointe to state championship games, Doherty in 1981 and Welchert in 1991. It wasn鈥檛 until Bene piloted the Lancers to the 2013 state title that Salpointe finally won The Big Game.
鈥淲inning that state championship validated everything,鈥 Bene says now. 鈥淚t was a long time coming.鈥
Two months ago, Bene announced that his 19th year at Salpointe will be his last. The intrigue thickens: Could his last season be his best? Could the Lancers pull off the triumph of a lifetime, prevailing over seven Phoenix-area superpowers to win the first-ever Open Division championship, a group of teams Bene calls the 鈥渂ig boys鈥?
He answers not with a bold prediction, but with perspective.
鈥淲hen I started, the ranking programs in 蜜柚直播 were with Wayne Jones at Mountain View, Richard Sanchez at Sunnyside and, of course, Vern Friedli at Amphi,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e had to get credibility with those men before we could do anything.鈥
Friedli scheduled a scrimmage against Salpointe and said it would be a vanilla exercise. No blitzing. Nothing special.
鈥淭hey smacked us around,鈥 Bene remembers. 鈥淭hey taught the young guy a lesson and let me have it. I have utter admiration for Vern Friedli; I feel blessed just to be up there with that guy.鈥
Friedli won 288 games at Amphi, by far the record for a 蜜柚直播 prep football coach. Bene will complete his Salpointe career behind both Friedli and Jeff Scurran, who won 223 games at CDO, Sabino, Catalina Foothills and Santa Rita.
That鈥檚 quite a legacy for the son of a former 蜜柚直播 policeman and car salesman, also named Dennis Bene, who now raises cattle on a ranch near Bowie and rarely misses a game coached by his son.
Salpointe athletic director Phil Gruensfelder took an uncertain chance when he hired Bene in 2001. Other than his playing days at Salpointe and a follow-up career at Scottsdale Community College and Northwest Missouri State, Bene鈥檚 coaching r茅sum茅 included two seasons under Welchert 鈥 unless you count Bene鈥檚 Pop Warner coaching days while working as a veterinarian in Minden, Nevada.
鈥淒ennis grew into the position and has taken it to the next level,鈥 says Gruensfelder.
It鈥檚 not like they were strangers.
When Gruensfelder was a freshman coach at Canyon del Oro in the early 鈥80s, he was assigned to scout Salpointe 鈥 specifically Bene. He spent four consecutive weeks following the Lancers, compiling a book on the man he would someday hire to coach Salpointe.
鈥淒ennis wasn鈥檛 very tall, wasn鈥檛 physical, but he was very mobile,鈥 Gruensfelder remembers. 鈥淚 was struck by his football IQ. I went back to CDO and told our head coach, Bob Smith, that Dennis was very smart, and that he 鈥榞ets it.鈥欌
Bene: 鈥淩eturning to Salpointe and coaching has changed my life but it鈥檚 time (to leave). I鈥檓 in a really good place. But my lifespan here has run its course.鈥
Bingo.
Bene has been smart enough to surround himself with longtime assistant coaches like Al Alexander, Joe Bernier, Mark Teixeira, Jay Dobyns, Ali Farhang. His brother, longtime defensive coordinator Rocco Bene, and now Tom Joseph. It鈥檚 the template Friedli established at Amphi and Scurran at Sabino. Consistency wins.
Bene is only 53, and admits he gave thought to sticking around to challenge Friedli鈥檚 288 victories, but that would take, what, another decade? He is the vice president of the family鈥檚 Southern 蜜柚直播 Paving Co. operation, and thus has worked two full-time jobs since returning to Salpointe.
What鈥檚 a routine day? Something like 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., when Bene turns away from watching video of an upcoming opponent and hits the sack. He worries that he鈥檚 not spending enough time with his kids, two of them Salpointe students, and with his 3-year-old granddaughter, and who can blame him?
鈥淩eturning to Salpointe and coaching has changed my life but it鈥檚 time (to leave),鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 in a really good place. But my lifespan here has run its course.鈥
Coach Dennis Bene has led Salpointe to 183 victories since being hired in 2001. The Lancers are 44-6 in their last 50 games under Bene, who played at Salpointe in the early 1980s.
Coaching a high school football team that has gone 44-6 in its last 50 games, helping to develop young men who have recently accepted scholarship offers from Ohio State, Texas and UCLA, requires not just football-savvy skills, but a greater resolve to understand that the mission isn鈥檛 to win championships but to help turn boys into men.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a kids-oriented business and Dennis is excellent in that area,鈥 says Gruensfelder. 鈥淒ennis鈥 goal 鈥 our goal 鈥 is to make sure this is the best part of our kids鈥 day. In that regard, he is a winner. That鈥檚 what counts most.鈥
Contact sports columnist Greg Hansen at 520-573-4362 or ghansen@tucson.com.
On Twitter: @ghansen711.
Greg Hansen
Columnist
