Chico Bennett Jr. has lived in Germany, Kansas, Kentucky and Virginia twice, but the well-travelled Battle Ground Academy prospect has settled into his new home in Tennessee quite nicely. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound athlete came to Nashville less than a year ago in hopes of expanding his football horizon. A proud son in a military family, Bennett actually left his parents in Northern Virginia and moved in with his uncle and cousin, 2020 corner Briston Bennett.
Bennetts path to Nashville has certainly been unique, but hes come full circle a bit, as his father Chico Sr., was born there and grew up rooting for the Vols. Now, Chico Jr., is hoping to follow his fathers footsteps a D-1 athlete, as his dad played cornerback for Hawaii in the early 1990s. My dad played for Hawaii, but he grew up watching and cheering for Tennessee, Bennett said. When I was a kid in Virginia, we would always be watching Tennessee games. I would come downstairs and ask, Who are we watching? And my dad would say, Those are the Vols, man. The Big Orange.
He told me the story on how he (found) me, Bennett explained. Coach (Pruitt) said he was driving and was on his way to see some other prospects when he got a call from one of his guys and said, Man, you have to check this kid out. So he watched the film and and it was me. I guess they enjoyed it and saw my potential. So, they had me come up there and then as he was telling the story how coach (Nick) Saban has to sign off on the real offers at Alabama, so he told me he wanted to offer me a scholarship to Tennessee. I was in shock. It totally surprised me. I was like, Wow. Thank you so much.
Coach Pruitt said he wants to put me at 240 pounds, easy, Bennett Jr. said. I had never played a down of defense in my life before last year. When I first got there to BGA, I was talking to my coach, who said we play both sides of the ball. I looked at him like, Yea. Thats what you think. But not me. But I put my mindset to playing defense and I gave it a try, worked hard and it worked out.
Bennett admits at times he didnt know exactly what he was doing on defense, relying mostly on instincts. Still, he finished his junior season with 69 tackles, 17 sacks and 23 tackles for loss all while playing with a torn labrum most of the year. Since Batten has helped promote his film, Georgia, where hell visit this weekend, Clemson, Michigan State, Iowa, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Kentucky have all reached out recently. While hes in no hurry to make his collegiate choice, the Vols have made a nice early impression and Bennett Jr. will be back on campus on March 3.
