Jake Bentley is coming back. So why are so many folks bitter about it?

The comments just seemed to never end.

They were below a Facebook post, a story with Friday’s news Jake Bentley would return to South Carolina for a fourth season. And many were vicious.

In some senses, having an experienced quarterback when the group behind him is nothing but question marks should be a good thing. But many fans strongly seem to prefer he disappear in one way or another, to the bench or the NFL or wherever.

And this phenomenon is far from unique to Columbia.

There’s something about quarterbacks who start early, maybe it’s a shelf life of sorts. Fans eventually tire of them, unless they just take off. Perhaps it’s because they hype the build is hard to reach. Perhaps it’s because of the allure of the unknown players behind them.

Perhaps it’s because no one, when it comes down to it, is ever satisfied with just good.

J.T. Barrett threw more than 100 touchdown passes and went 38-6, but many Ohio State fans wanted him gone his last year. (And his backup was in fact better and will leave after one year with no chance to disappoint). Kevin Hogan led Stanford to the Rose Bowl as a freshman, was only good his next two years, and had the “disappointment” label on him though he posted a passer rating of 171.0 as a senior.

The adage always true, that someone has to take the blame when things go bad. That’s most often the coach, but a longtime quarterback becomes almost symbiotic with a coach (a Jake Bentley failing becomes a referendum on Will Muschamp’s decision to have him out there). And once this dynamic is established, it becomes a waiting game. When things go wrong, as they always eventually do, the knives are pre-sharpened.

A few reasons this might come to pass:

▪ The early potential factor: Simply put, a lot gets put on a player who plays early. There’s always a sense of “if this guy can play now, imagine the step he’ll take in coming years.”

The assumption is that step will always be a large one, but sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s just a step toward being a good quarterback, or even just a solid one (Jake Bentley was deemed “presidential” before his sophomore season).

Sometimes that growth takes a while, or never comes at all. But a player will always be saddled with it. Jake Bentley will always have the fact he’s a former four-star with an NFL build who filled imaginations in Year 1.

▪ The focus factor: There’s something about the way fans watch a new player who is competent as compared to the way they watch an older one.

Without having seen much of a player, the focus is on what they can do. The eyes go to a sharp pass, or standing in the pocket against pressure, or crisp ball placement on an RPO.

But as time goes on, what isn’t going right stands out more. The missed deep balls or the overaggressive picks become the focus. Instead of the good games representing promise, the bad ones are signs of failure.

In short, fans fatigue of what they’ve seen, unless it’s really high level. Instead, eyes go toward something new.

▪ The alluring backup factor: Quarterbacks are a position of hype. Every commit who becomes a signee gets that hype.

It’s also the only position where one player playing ensures everyone else cannot. The potential of a quarterback will always seem limitless when he hasn’t played, and whatever the starter is doing mostly can’t compete with the specter of limitless potential.

In recent years, Gamecock fans have been excited about the likes of Dakereon Joyner, a four-star whose passing is still a work in progress according to his coach. They’ve also wondered why Michael Scarnecchia, a hard-working backup who spent much of his career being deemed a recruiting misstep by Steve Spurrier, wasn’t getting in more.

Some have asked, why not these two instead of Bentley? Why can the staff not pull him when things get rough? (Ignoring the fact the coaches have seen hundreds of passes these players throw from all the angles with a sense of how the offense actually works).

And fans also got excited over Brandon McIlwain, whose grace period lasted barely three games, Lorenzo Nunez and, of course, Bentley back in the day.

Now focus shifts to the four-stars coming in, Ryan Hilinski and Luke Doty. Both project as good players, and both may well enter into this economy, brimming with hype, given a window once they start playing to show something and then make good before things turn.

▪ What counts as good? This is really the question. Jake Bentley has been good in a nominal way. He posted some of the better passing numbers in program history this season. He’s within striking distance of several career marks.

But his downs have been at times ugly, and there haven’t been consistent moments of greatness. Being just “good” rarely cuts it. If a team or player is merely solidly above average, eyes wander for more.

The gold standard for a Gamecock escaping this remains Connor Shaw. He went from fill-in starter who led the Gamecocks to new heights to better full-time starter leading the Gamecocks to 11 wins to a player who threw one interception and posted the 10th-best passer rating in the country as he left college. He capped each season with a bowl win, letting everyone feel good.

And even he had to deal with calls for Dylan Thompson to take his place until late October of his senior year when the comeback Missouri win cemented his place.

Beyond him, it’s been tough for USC quarterbacks to measure up.

Thompson broke records but took plenty of heat his final season. Stephen Garcia had his issues and his interceptions. Chris Smelley transferred away. Blake Mitchell’s last two seasons couldn’t match his sophomore year, while Syvelle Newton spent his final four games playing defense. Dondrial Pinkins got benched for someone younger (Corey Jenkins’ final season was a 5-7 year, but he was at his best, and Phil Petty did depart on a good note).

Jake Bentley spent this past season being considered the best quarterback on his roster by his coaches. They stuck with him through struggles, and for half a season, he truly delivered.

The bowl left a sour taste. Now he’ll have to face a schedule with Clemson, Alabama and Georgia, plus rapidly ascending Florida and Texas A&M to close out his career.

Bentley spent much of his junior season with certain segments of fans asking he be benched for anyone. That probably won’t abate. Once that faith is lost, it takes something massive to get it back, and the schedule makes for a mighty uphill climb.

But to a degree, it doesn’t matter. Bentley has his job, like he had the choice he announced on Friday. How he’s treated or remembered, that’s mostly up to others at this point.