Jake Bentley’s next move? It looks like he’s getting into coaching
Former South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley is joining another football program — this time, as a graduate assistant.
Bentley, who started his playing career at USC before transferring to Utah in 2020 and South Alabama in 2021, announced his new role as an offensive graduate assistant coach at Florida Atlantic in a tweet on Thursday afternoon. He will work under Owls’ head coach Willie Taggart.
“Excited to join @FAUFootball as a Offensive Graduate Assistant #WinningInParadise,” Bentley said in his tweet.
Bentley’s new role is often a first step for future full-time coaches. Current South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer started out as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech in 2000 and served in the same role at Tennessee from 2001-03. Bentley’s former coach at USC, Will Muschamp, worked as a GA at Auburn from 1995-96.
Graduate assistants can perform a number of duties supporting the coaching staff and team. Responsibilities can include helping coaches organize practices, carrying out administrative duties or working with position groups.
FAU is located in Boca Raton, Florida, about an hour north of Miami. Bentley’s father, Bobby Bentley, who worked at South Carolina as a running backs coach from 2016-18 and as tight ends coach from 2019-20, is heading into his second year as wide receivers coach at the University of South Florida in Tampa, about four hours from FAU and on the opposite coastline.
Jake Bentley spent four years with the Gamecocks from 2016-19, passing for 7,385 yards and 54 touchdowns against five interceptions. He earned the South Carolina program record for most yards in a single game when he passed for 510 yards in the Gamecocks’ 56-35 loss to Clemson in 2018.
Bentley transferred to Utah in 2020 and then to Sun Belt South Alabama, where he’d been having the best season of his career before he tore his MCL in a game against Troy on Nov. 6.
He returned to play for the Jaguars’ final regular season game against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 27. South Alabama lost the game 27-21 in overtime, and Bentley completed 28 of 41 passes for 354 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in his final game as a player. South Alabama went 5-7 in 2021.
Bentley finished his college career on a generally high note, completing a career-best 70% of his passes for 2,476 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his sixth year on the field.
This story was originally published January 20, 2022 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Jake Bentley’s next move? It looks like he’s getting into coaching."
