Born in Atwood, Oklahoma, Bennett attended Roosevelt High School in Fresno, California and graduated in 1951.
In college, Bob caught for Fresno State, setting a school record for fielding in 1953 by going 224 chances without an error.
[1] Bennett took a break from Bullard in 1967 to coach Fresno State when Pete Beiden took a sabbatical; the team went 38–10.
He helped develop Dick Ruthven, Ron Johnson, Terry Pendleton, Eric Fox, Mark Gardner, Tom Goodwin, Steve Hosey, Bobby Jones, Todd Johnson, Jeff Weaver, Dan Gladden, Adam Pettyjohn and Dennis Springer among other major leaguers.
Bennett continued in his retirement to coach players, lead instructional videos and practice as well as write literature related to baseball techniques and methods.