Former South Carolina quarterback lands in-state head coaching job
Jake Bentley will get his shot to be a high school football head coach.
Nation Ford is hiring the former South Carolina quarterback as its new football coach. Bentley was introduced Wednesday in a press conference filled with the school’s marching band.
“It is exciting. It truly is an exciting time to be here,” Bentley told reporters after the press conference. “It has been a couple week process of interviews. Now getting to meet the guys and see their faces. It is an exciting time for my family and I. I can’t wait to get going.”
Bentley replaces Michael Allen, who resigned three games into his 14th season at the school. Jason McManus was named interim coach for the rest of the season. Nation Ford went 2-9, and the school’s last winning season came in 2019.
Bentley is the third coach in program history at the school, which opened in 2007. At 27 years old, he is believed to be the youngest head football coach in the state.
Bentley spent last season as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator at Rock Hill High School. Before that, he was a graduate assistant coach at Florida Atlantic in 2022 and then quarterbacks coach and video coordinator at North Alabama in 2023.
Bentley comes from a football family. His father, Bobby, was a successful high school coach at Byrnes High in South Carolina and coached in college at Presbyterian, Auburn, South Carolina and South Florida. Bobby Bentley is currently head football coach at Battle Ground Academy, a private school located in Franklin, Tennessee.
Bentley’s brother Chas Dodd is the Director of Integrated High Performance at Rutgers, and his other older brother Shuler Bentley is quarterbacks coach at Charleston Southern. His younger brother Brooks is a quarterback at New Hampshire.
Bentley credited his dad and also current Westside coach Brian Lane for being two of the biggest coaching influences in his life. Lane was in attendance at Wednesday’s press conference.
“I felt like I was ready. Talking to dad and picking his brain. I said let me interview, go at it full throttle and see what happens,” Bentley said.
At the University of South Carolina, Jake Bentley started at quarterback as a freshman and played from 2016 to 2019 during the Will Muschamp era. He set several school records, including a 510-yard, five-touchdown performance against Clemson in 2018.
Bentley suffered a Lisfranc injury in the season opener of his senior year against North Carolina and redshirted. After the season, he decided to transfer to Utah. He started five games at Utah in 2020 and decided to spend his final season at South Alabama in 2021.
Bentley threw for 2,476 yards and 16 touchdowns in his lone season at South Alabama. He tore an ACL and MCL in the next-to-last game against Troy but gutted it out and played in the season finale against Coastal Carolina. He passed for 354 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
SC High School Football Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Aiken — Dwayne Garrick — TBA
Gaffney — Dan Jones — Donnie Littlejohn
Greenville — Jaybo Shaw — Steve Watson
JL Mann — Steve Watson — TBA
Keenan — Ray McCleod — Jarrett Neely (interim)
Kingstree — Brian Smith — TBA
Laurence Manning — Robbie Briggs — TBA
Lexington — Dustin Curtis — TBA
Midland Valley — Earl Chaptman — Brent Dorn
Nation Ford — Michael Allen — Jake Bentley
Oceanside Collegiate — Chad Wilkes — John Patterson (interim)
Pelion — Dann Holland — TBA
Porter-Gaud — Brad Bowles — TBA
Southside — Roy Ravenell — TBA
Southside Christian — Mike Sonneborn — TBA
Spring Valley — Nygel Pearson — TBA
West Ashley — Donnie Kiefer — TBA
West Florence — Jody Jenerette — Chad Wilkes
Wilson — Daryl Page (interim) — Brian Wilson
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
