Oct. 16, 2009
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Charles Benson was just hard-headed enough to think that he could beat out All-America middle linebacker Mike Singletary.
"I just always thought I was a linebacker," Benson said. "That's what I had played all through high school. And I just felt like I could compete at that position."
But rather than wasting another year and having Benson on the sidelines as Singletary's backup, the 6-foot-3, 237-pound sophomore was moved to defensive end. And the rest, as they say, is history.
"One day I got the talk from coach (Grant) Teaff about trying to get the best 11 guys on the field," Benson said. "And I was a little hard-headed at first. But I guess it was just doing something different that made me uncomfortable. Just getting used to putting my hand on the ground, getting in the stance and all that stuff. Before then, I had never even thought about playing defensive line."
That move proved to be gold for Benson and the Bears. He earned All-Southwest Conference honors the next three seasons and All-America accolades as a senior in 1982, finishing with a school-record 49 tackles for losses that still stands.
"The most impressive thing about him is his football sense," then-defensive line coach Pete Fredenburg said of his prize pupil. "Charles' anticipation is amazing. At times, he just dominates."
More than a quarter of a century later, Benson is being added to the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame in a class that includes 1980 teammates Jay Jeffrey and Frank Ditta, track and field standouts Stacey Bowers Smith and Billy Hollis and former baseball All-American pitcher Jason Jennings.
"I guess I was more surprised than anything," Benson said of his Hall of Fame election. "There have been so many since me, I didn't even think I was on anyone's radar. But this is such a huge honor."
After making the move to defensive end in spring of 1980, Benson didn't waste any time proving that he could play there. In a line that featured All-SWC players at every position, Benson stood out with 63 total tackles, a team-high 16 stops behind the line and 13 pass breakups.
"Being that we had so many guys that other teams had to worry about, they could never really just focus on keeping one guy from hurting them," Benson said of a 1980 defense that also featured Singletary, Doak Field and Lester Ward at linebacker, Joe Campbell and Tommy Tabor at tackle, Max McGeary at the other end and a talented secondary with Vann McElroy, Vic Vines, Thomas Earl Young, Scott Smith and Cedric Mack.
"We had a lot of weapons. And Corky Nelson was the coordinator. It doesn't hurt to have a guy like that pulling the strings for you."
Drafted in the third round by Miami in '83, Benson played two years with t
he Dolphins and one year each with the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions before getting out of the game in 1988.
"Man, if I knew back then what I know now," he said. "I didn't treat it like a job. I treated it like it was still a game, and I didn't take advantage of a real good opportunity I had. I should have played a lot longer. But then I started thinking that if I had played longer, I might not have ever gotten into coaching. I think everything happens for a reason."
Five years ago, Benson had a mid-life career change when he switched from a sales job with Coca-Cola to take a coaching position with the McKinney (Texas) school district north of Dallas.
"It was something that I had always thought about doing, but I was just a little selfish," said the 48-year-old Benson, who teaches at the elementary school but coaches defensive line at the high school level. "I really thought it would make me miss playing. But I'm getting the same satisfaction that I did when I was a player. It's been one of the best decisions that I've ever made in my life."
Benson, his wife, Denise, and 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, live in Van Alstyne, Texas. His busy schedule next weekend will include the Hall of Fame banquet on Friday night and then a trip to Miami the next day for a reunion of the '84 Dolphins team that made it to the AFC championship game.
"That's a pretty good weekend," he said.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet, which will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at the Ferrell Center, are $45 ($35 for Baylor letterwinners). Contact the "B" Association's Tammy Hardin at 254-710-3045 or by e-mail at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu.
