The long wait for David Bennett to be named the new athletics director at Socastee High is finally over.
The former Coastal Carolina University football coach was officially approved as the new AD at Socastee High on Monday night at an Horry County Schools Board meeting.
Although his candidacy hit a few snags along the way, including his recertification as a teacher in the state of S.C. and the waiver of a minimum of five years of high school teaching experience to hold an administrative position, Bennett’s hiring approved by the school board.
Bennett passed his recertification exam, making him current for the first time since he coached and taught at Goose Creek High in 1987. Bennett’s ensuing 12 years of coaching and teaching at Newberry College and Catawba College have been approved as an appropriate substitute for the remaining four years of high school teaching.
The hiring ends a seven-month saga in which Bennett was unceremoniously fired as head coach at CCU in December despite carrying a 63-39 record in the nine seasons since he started the program from scratch. He received a $925,000 settlement for the remaining five years on his contract.
Bennett replaces retiring AD Roger Dixon immediately and begins the process of preparing the Braves for the fall sports season. Practices get under way Friday so there is much wprk to be done in a short period of time.
