Edgar Bennett III (born February 15, 1969) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former running back who is the

wide receivers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). Bennett played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 4th round of the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott M ...

. He also played for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

Early years

Bennett attended Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida and won varsity letters in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. Influenced by football coach Corky Rogers, he was a Class 4A All-State running back, and was a SuperPrep All-Dixie selection.

Playing career

College

Bennett attended Florida State University. He lined up primarily at fullback in a backfield that included future NFL running backs Amp Lee, Marquette Smith, William Floyd, Zach Crockett and Sean Jackson. When Lee was suspended for the Cotton Bowl, Bennett started at halfback. Bennett is considered one of the most versatile fullbacks in FSU history. His career all-purpose yardage totaled more than 2,300 on 389 touches, good for 20 touchdowns. He was an all-around player who ran a 4.5 40 and caught 93 passes for over 1,000 yards.

National Football League

Green Bay Packers

Bennett was drafted in the 4th round (103rd overall) by the Packers in the

. Bennett started his Packer career as a fullback, but he became the starting running back in 1995 and gained 1,067 yards rushing. As both a fullback and a running back, Bennett excelled as a receiver leading the Packers in receptions. He continued as the starting running back throughout the 1996 season, but in the latter half,

Dorsey Levens Herbert Dorsey Levens (born May 21, 1970) is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round (149th overall) of the 1994 NFL Draft. He helped the Packers win th ...

was receiving significant playing time at running back. Bennett's career as a Packer culminated in their

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

victory. He ruptured his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ...

in the 1997 preseason and did not play that year.

Chicago Bears

Bennett played with the Chicago Bears in 1998 and 1999 before retiring after the 1999 season.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

Green Bay Packers

Bennett rejoined the Packer organization in 2001 as director of player development. He later served as running backs

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

for six seasons. In February 2011, Bennett was named wide receivers coach. In February 2015, Packers head coach

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, he led t ...

promoted Bennett to offensive coordinator.

Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders

On January 13, 2018, Bennett was hired by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

as their wide receivers coach under head coach

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...

. On February 2 2022, the team announced it would retain Bennett under new head coach Josh McDaniels.

Personal life

Edgar's daughter

Elyse Bennett Elyse Morgan Bennett (born December 27, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward and midfielder for the San Diego Wave in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Youth career Born in Lake Forest, Illinois, ...

was the seventh overall pick in the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

to KC Current.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Edgar 1969 births Living people American football running backs Florida State Seminoles football players Green Bay Packers players Green Bay Packers coaches Chicago Bears players Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida National Football League offensive coordinators Oakland Raiders coaches Las Vegas Raiders coaches Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville) alumni