Former Lexington County School District 1 athletics director David Bennett has officially retired from amateur athletics after a 40-year career that will be remembered for many reasons.

His viral rant as Coastal Carolina’s head football coach, the relationships he made with players and coaches and the effort he put into his work make his career stand out. But the most unique thing about Bennett’s career was his tendency to be the first. 

He was the first head coach in Coastal Carolina football history, the first coach and athletic director in River Bluff history and the first district athletic director in Lexington County. 

Now, Bennett is retiring after a long and impactful career because he “felt it was time.” 

Former Gilbert football coach and athletic director Chad Leaphart was named Bennett’s replacement. Bennett said he is excited to see what Leaphart will do with the job.

Bennett told the Chronicle he considered leaving in the summer but decided it was best to stay until the end of the year so the district could do a complete search for his replacement. 

“You look at your age, and at 62 you’re always looking, and I feel like a young 62, but there’s an old saying, ‘you can’t let the old man in,’” Bennett said “If I had retired this summer, then the pool of candidates to take this position as district AD would probably have been a lot smaller.”

Bennett served his last day just before the holidays after seven years at the job. 

“When this position started back in 2016, I think there were about six district ADs across the state,” Bennett said. “I think there’s over 20 district ADs now, and I think people have realized that athletics is a huge part of the education process that so many lessons are learned after the bell rings.”

That’s why Bennett first took the role. He saw the educational value in athletics and wanted to be in a position to help as many kids as he could. 

He finished the 2016 season as the head football coach at River Bluff High School and began his new job with the goal of getting out and helping as many people as he could. 

“You miss the relationships with your coaches, with your kids, if you just stay in your office and work out of your office,” Bennett said. “It’s been a lot of fun helping coaches, helping kids that go to college and participate in athletics, speaking with teams and being part of getting raises for our coaches, improving facilities.”

The people part is what has kept Bennett in athletics for so long. From his beginnings as a grad assistant at Clemson to his final job in the district, Bennett has prided himself on the relationships he’s built along the way. 

Bennett played football and golf at Presbyterian before working at four different colleges and three high schools in his career. His first job after Clemson was at Goose Creek High School, serving as the offensive coordinator. 

He then made the jump to college becoming an assistant coach at Newberry and Catawba College. He got his first head coaching job after being promoted at Catawba in 1995 and made the division two playoffs three times. 

He stayed at Catawba for six years, and in 2001, he was hired to be the inaugural head coach for Coastal Carolina’s football program. 

Coastal went 63-39 under Bennett and won four Big South championships, including three from 2004-06.

After Coastal, Bennett returned to high school, but not to take a job as a coach. Instead, he accepted an offer to be the athletic director at Socastee High School. 

Bennett was at Socastee for two years before he became the first head coach and athletic director at River Bluff, which was his last coaching job before becoming district athletic director. 

During his career journey, Bennett made lifelong relationships and helped teach kids things that will help them in life. That is what he said he will miss the most about working. 

“Trust me, you want to win, and when you don’t win it hurts,” Bennett said. “But you got to realize you’re doing more than just working to win, you’re with these young men or young ladies as an athletic director. You’re with them to help them through the losses and help them realize there are lessons. There are lessons always learned.”

Bennett said he hopes one day everyone will recognize the importance of sports and the impact they can have on young people. 

“A lot of people look at athletics and things that happen after school as extracurricular activities,” Bennett said. “To me, they’re co-curricular, and I look back over 40 years of teaching and coaching and I go ‘God, how many mentors did I have that helped me and continue to help me?’ my high school coach, college coaches and college coaches that I’ve worked with, we work together to build something special.”