SEC coach on USC assistant: ‘He’ll be a coordinator and head coach in this league’

Gus Malzahn gave Bobby Bentley his first big break with an SEC program.

Now the Auburn coach sees bigger things for South Carolina’s running backs coach.

“He’ll be a coordinator and head coach in this league,” Malzahn said at SEC Media Days.

Bentley was brought on by Malzahn as an analyst in 2014. After two years, Bentley made the jump to position coach at USC.

But that was after a dominant run as a high school coach at Byrnes, where he built a dynasty and won for consecutive state titles. It was that high school background that first connected the two men, as Byrnes faced Malzahn’s Springdale team in 7-on-7 events.

“We just developed a good relationship and I just felt like he had a good chance of being a big-time coach in college,” Malzahn said. “When I first got here in 2013, I really tried to make an effort to get more good guys in college football. He was one of the guys that I felt real strong about could get to college football and be successful. That would get to college football, make a difference in kids’ lives. Take the business side out.”

Bentley had been head coach at Presbyterian for two seasons, and then returned to Byrnes as offensive coordinator and then a short stint as head coach.

This season, USC returns a deep and experienced backfield looking for better production.

With Bentley living in Auburn, it meant his son Jake, now South Carolina’s quarterback, was playing out his high school football career in town. Jake Bentley jumped to the college level, eschewing his senior year, so he, like his father, went right from Auburn to the Gamecocks.

“Jake, he’s a phenomenal player,” Malzahn said. “Very proud to watch him and that he’s successful.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 10:18 AM.