Bennett always has a mouthful to say

There’s nothing a football coach likes more than spending his lunch hour eating and talking.

So maybe that’s why Catawba’s head honcho David Bennett chose Western Steer to hold his weekly press conference instead of meeting the press in his office.

Western Steer has a buffet with plenty of different items that Bennett is ready to shove in that hole in his face.

Bennett always has a lot of different items in his brain ready to come out of that same hole.

Think about his mood Tuesday. He was coming off a 35-34 first-round Division II playoff win over Central Arkansas that left him physically, mentally and emotionally drained. Now, he had to focus on the No. 1 team in the nation, Valdosta State.

So you knew when he plopped that plate down on the table, he had a mouthful to say.

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People just won’t leave Bennett alone these days. For the third straight season, he is the coach of the one of the nation’s premiere teams.

So everybody wants to hear him talk. On Tuesday, we got to watch him eat while he was doing it.

Bennett spoke of Saturday night when he was on the air during halftime of the men’s basketball game — and how drained he must have sounded.

“I was spent after that ballgame,” Bennett admitted, sticking his fork into some crisp salad. “We all were, whether you were a coach or a player or a manager. It was one of the greatest football games I’ve been a part of as a coach or spectator.”

He’s right about that. Everyone was feeling the effects.

Even the Post photographer, Jon Lakey, told me he was nervous. This was a game of big plays and he had to make sure he was there at the end to get them.

Lakey can rest easy. He received Bennett’s seal of approval.

“Those were great pictures in Sunday’s paper,” Bennett said, slurping down some iced tea.

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From past experiences, Bennett told us he knew what was coming — plenty of phone messages, plenty of advice and plenty of requests from every fan, expert and kook out there.

Before the game Saturday, it had already started. Bennett walked onto the field only to be met by one of those old Catawba guys.

“He told me, ‘Don’t be conservative like you were at Carson-Newman,’ ” Bennett scoffed in between bites of macaroni and cheese.

On Monday, he came into the office and was met with 14 phone messages. He went to lunch and when he returned, there were 27 more.

On some, he took notes and phone numbers. On others, he hit that delete button.

“Igot one call from a gentlemen who told me I should put in the single wing for Valdosta State,” Bennett chuckled, while downing some fried chicken. “He said it worked when he played for Landis.”

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We expect the delete button was quickly tapped when word that “the single wing worked for Billy Ray Barnes so it will work for you ...” came across loud and clear.

And then, there was the message from a booster. At least, we think it was a booster.

“One man said he gave $2,000 to the new stadium and could we leave him tickets at the gate in Valdosta,” Bennett marveled, chomping on some cabbage.

“I’m like, ‘My mom and dad are going to have to pay!’ ” he added, pushing a yeast roll into his mouth.

And so it goes for the hand-shaking, mouth-stuffing, big-smiling P.R. man of Catawba College.

“Oh boy, it’s interesting,” Bennett mused. “Opinions are like automobiles. “Everybody’s got one.”

With one last twirl of his fork, Bennett sighed.

“You try to laugh it off,” he said. “But I’ve already asked for forgiveness for the response to the man who told me not to be conservative.”

There’s at least one more press conference, which will occur next week after the Valdosta State game. And Bennett is sure his phone message light will be blinking once again.

Bennett knows those messages will be the same old, same old — just more food for thought.

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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com .