Leeman Bennett, who won only four games in two years as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was dismissed yesterday by the National Football League team. Hugh Culverhouse, the owner of the Buccaneers, told a packed news conference in Tampa that he had struggled over the decision to dismiss Bennett for two weeks and made up his mind shortly before the announcement.
As Bennett sat silently on the podium where Culverhouse made the announcement, the owner of the team said, ''Leeman, it's with deepest regret that I make this decision. I hold you in the highest esteem. I hope we can work something out so that we can be together.'' Bennett was completing the second year of a five-year contract and no replacement was named for him.