Feature Pieces
VUCommodores.com – Bennett Back on West End

An SEC Legend, former Commodore wide receiver Earl Bennett returned to Vanderbilt in 2021 as the football team’s director of player development and was promoted to executive director of player development and administration in 2023. In 2024, he was named senior associate athletic director for strategy and business operations, working directly with the department’s chief of staff on strategic initiatives.

Bennett, a Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2017 member, was selected in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft with the 70th overall pick by the Chicago Bears. He played six seasons with the Bears, catching 185 passes for 2,277 yards and 12 touchdowns.

During his three-season Vanderbilt playing career, Bennett earned a trio of All-SEC honors and caught 236 passes for 2,852 yards and 20 touchdowns. He left West End as the SEC’s all-time leader in career receptions. He remains tied for most touchdowns catches in a single game in SEC history with five, which he hauled in against Kentucky in 2005. Bennett was named an SEC Legend in 2015.

Bennett earned Vanderbilt bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and completed his PhD in higher education leadership and policy studies at the University of Houston in 2022. He and his wife, Rekeshia, have three children, Earl Jr., Skylah and Selah.