When Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt was searching for a defensive coordinator to replace Paul Rhoads after last season, he said he was looking for a coach who would be willing to run the Panthers scheme, use their terminology and "add a few tweaks and wrinkles" to it.

That's why this period of spring football has been as much of an adjustment and learning period for Phil Bennett as it has been for the players. But the process has been quick because Bennett has a philosophy and defense similar to Pitt's last season.

"I don't think there is any doubt: Philosophy-wise, we are on the same page," said Bennett, 52. "We have a saying that goes: 'Being bored as a defensive coordinator isn't all bad.' Sometimes it is better to just get them lined up and let them play. We've tweaked it ... but our biggest goal has been to keep the same thing we did last year -- stop the run and keep the ball in front of us. But we just need to get more turnovers.

"Obviously, we also want to be near the top in scoring defense because if you are keeping teams to scoring in the teens, you are in the games."

Bennett spent the past six seasons as the head coach at Southern Methodist and before that ran successful defenses at a number of stops, including Kansas State, Texas Christian, Texas A&M, LSU, Purdue and Iowa State.

He has seen a wide variety of offenses, prepared for a lot of different spread offenses, in particular, and understands the importance of being as simple as possible on defense because of the time restraints in practice.

Now that Wannstedt has observed Bennett in action for the past month in spring drills, the head coach believes that Bennett has a lot more to offer than just good ideas and schemes. Wannstedt said Bennett's energy on the field has been contagious and that Bennett has been an excellent mentor to some of the younger coaches on the staff.

"Phil's a high-energy guy and he has done a great job of communicating with the coaches," Wannstedt said. "I give him situations and let him make the calls. My thinking with that is to let them get in a rhythm of making calls. Phil and I need to get on that same wavelength. Beyond that, he's done a good job of adding some things and cleaning some things up within the package.

"The foundation hasn't changed, yet we've tried to tweak and adjust. A young, inexperienced guy wouldn't know how to do that or have an appreciation for that, and he does."

As Wannstedt said, Bennett, like Rhoads, is a high-energy coach who can be seen running from one side of the practice field to the other to congratulate or castigate player. He is very well-liked by the players because he is enthusiastic and a no-nonsense kind of coach who pays attention to details.

"I like his style," said Pitt middle linebacker Scott Mc-Killop. "I like the fact that he pushes us and he doesn't let us settle for anything but the best. The first couple of practices we needed some time to understand him and for him to understand us, and there are some things that he does differently than coach Rhoads. He has made some tweaks to the defense, and I like having a defensive coordinator who is out there pushing us and pumping us up and teaching us."

Bennett said that coaching with enthusiasm is the only way he knows how to do his job, but that if players don't know it is genuine, it is a waste of energy. And he also believes his job has been made much easier because he has inherited a lot of good football players to work with.

"I've quickly figured out that our first-line players are definitely good players," Bennett said. "So that's helped, and now we're trying to develop a second group so that the drop-off is minimal. We have some quality depth, but we need to build on it. And I guess my coaching style is such that college football is a lot about emotion and passion, and I think you have to bring that with you when you coach, and I always have."