Bentley heads into offseason sharing emotional moment with his family

It had been a long time since South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley was directly coached by his father Bobby.

The last time was 2013. Jake Bentley was a freshman at Byrnes High School. Bobby was head coach, a one-year tenure between serving as an overqualified offensive coordinator at the school he made a powerhouse and making the jump to college analyst.

Jake Bentley’s season lasted less than a game.

He went in late in a season-opening 51-36 win against defending Florida state champion Apopka, replacing his brother Shuler. He left soon after with what turned out to be a torn ACL.

Monday, in the Outback Bowl against Michigan, Bobby Bentley worked with his son, a Gamecocks starter, as an interim quarterbacks coach getting to work in live action. And it was an emotional moment, during and after.

“Man, it’s just one of those things you grow up, you see your brothers get to get coached by him and celebrate with him on the sideline,” Bentley said. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted.”

Bobby Bentley coached Shuler to a state title in 2011, one of the best campaigns in state history that year and coached his stepson and eventual Rutgers starting quarterback Chas Dodd years before that.

The game in Tampa got off to a rocky start, not so much because of the handful of throws Jake Bentley missed, but because of breakdowns up front that had him getting knocked around.

In the second half, USC’s offense found life, with Bentley making some of his best throws of the season. A dart to Bryan Edwards for one score and a rainbow to Shi Smith for another opened things up, and USC rallied from down 16 with 18 minutes to go. Jake Bentley finished with 239 passing yards, 166 after halftime, and completed nine of his final 11 passes for 154 yards.

After it was all said and done, Jake Bentley found his dad.

“Just to be able to do that (Monday) and to be able to come back like we did, I don’t know,” Jake Bentley said. “Just the emotion of winning just was special having him there, and I saw my mom and my brother just coming down after, too. Just a special moment for me, something that I always wanted to happen, being on the sideline, being able to win the game with him.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Bentley heads into offseason sharing emotional moment with his family."