Coastal Carolina University head football coach David Bennett has received a contract extension that will keep him as the leader of the Chanticleer program through at least 2010, Coastal President Ronald R. Ingle announced today.

Bennett has signed a five-year contract with a base pay of $110,000 for the 2005-06 year. The contract also includes built-in salary increases with an automatic one-year rollover. Additionally, the agreement includes improved contracts for assistant coaches, along with an incentive plan for the entire football program that rewards academic achievement, community service and athletic performance.

In just the program’s second year of play, Bennett led the Chanticleers to a 10-1 record and the school’s Big South Conference title in 2004 with a perfect 4-0 mark. The team was honored with 14 All-Big South selections, including eight First Team honorees. CCU also made its first-ever appearance in the four major national polls, finishing the regular season in the top 25 of the ESPN/ USA Today Coaches’ Poll, The Sports Network and Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette and was receiving votes in the I-AA.org poll. Bennett has a two-season record of 16-6 at Coastal Carolina and is 79-23 overall as a head coach, including seven years at Catawba.

He was also named the American Football Coaches’ Association (AFCA) Region 2 Coach of the Year. The award’s I-AA Region 2 includes coaches from the Big South Conference, Southern Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Among this year’s honorees, Bennett was one of five coaches to have won the award previously, as he won it three times at Catawba in 1995, 1999 and 2000.