University of Arkansas at Monticello Athletics

The late Jim Benton was an Arkansas football legend long before he became the head football coach at UAM.

An All-Southwest Conference end at the University of Arkansas in the 1930’s, Benton led the Razorbacks to their first SWC championship in 1936. He was a Collier’s All-American in 1937 after setting an SWC record with 48 pass receptions for 814 yards, marks that stood for 26 years.

A first round draft pick of the Cleveland Rams in 1938, Benton played nine seasons in the NFL. He helped lead the Chicago Bears to the 1943 NFL title and won a second championship with the Rams in 1945. In 91 NFL games, Benton caught 288 passes for 4,801 yards and 45 touchdowns and led the NFL in 1945 with 1,067 yards. He was the second player in NFL history (Don Hutson was the first) to reach 1,000 yards receiving in a season.

On November 22, 1945, Benton established an NFL record that stood for 40 years when he caught 10 passes for a league record 303 yards against the Detroit Lions.

Benton retired from the NFL in 1947 and returned to his native Pine Bluff. In 1950, he became an assistant coach at what was then Arkansas A&M College (now UAM) and assumed the head coaching position in 1951. Ahead of his time as a play caller, Benton stood the ground-oriented AIC on its ear with a controlled passing attack that was the forerunner of the West Coast offense.

Benton’s first Boll Weevil team went 8-2 in 1951, the best record in school history to that point, while establishing school records for passing and total offense. His 1953 squad won the school’s first AIC football championship with a 7-1 record. It was UAM’s first league title in any sport.

Benton retired from coaching following the 1953 season and died in 2001.