How former Gamecock Jake Bentley has energized this SC high school football team
Memories started to flood Jake Bentley’s head the closer his bus got to South Carolina’s capital city.
As the Nation Ford High School bus drove down I-77 last week, Bentley began thinking about the spring workouts and team-bonding activities at Fort Jackson he once did as a member of the South Carolina football team.
Bentley was the Gamecocks’ quarterback from 2016-19. But on this trip back to Columbia, he wasn’t a player. He was a head coach, in his first year, leading Nation Ford’s football program on the way to take on Richland Northeast.
“This is home,” Bentley said following the game. “We are getting off the exit and I see Fort Jackson and all those workouts we did at Fort Jackson. I started shaking a little bit. There are so many memories in this city. It is a special place and I am glad I can represent them.”
At 27 years old, Bentley is believed to be the youngest head coach in South Carolina football.
Coaching football seemed the most logical transition for Bentley after his playing days were done. After South Carolina, he played at Utah and then South Alabama before starting his coaching career. He had stops in college at Florida Atlantic and North Alabama before taking an assistant coaching job at Rock Hill High School last year.
After one season at Rock Hill, Bentley was named Nation Ford’s head coach in January. He is the third coach in the history of the school, which opened in 2007.
Coaching right near ‘Football City USA’
Nation Ford is one of three high schools in Fort Mill, along with Catawba Ridge and Fort Mill. The growing town is about 20 miles from Rock Hill, dubbed “Football City USA,” and features powerhouse programs such as defending 5A Division II champion Northwestern and current Class 4A No. 1 team South Pointe. The area has produced several future and current NFL players such as Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore and Mason Rudolph.
Bentley is well aware of that fact and his job to try and get the Falcons in that direction.
“We are hungry. I think our school and community is,” Bentley said.
Bentley has Nation Ford off to a 3-1 start following their 56-27 win over RNE. The three wins already surpass last year’s win total of two. The Falcons, who haven’t had a winning season since going 6-5 in 2019, begin region play this week against Northwestern.
“From game one till now, the amount of growth that we’ve shown,” Bentley said. “We don’t let adversity affect us the way we did. We stick together.”
Like father, like son
Bentley’ s journey into coaching follows the path of his dad, Bobby, who is now at Battle Ground Academy, a private school in Tennessee. Bobby Bentley built Byrnes into a SC high school powerhouse, winning four straight state championships from 2002-05 before going into college coaching with stops at Presbyterian, Auburn, South Florida, Central Florida and South Carolina.
Bentley said he catches himself sometimes saying or teaching things his dad has instilled in him over the years. Like his dad, Bentley wears a visor at practice and on gamedays, joking that ‘a hat wouldn’t fit on my big head.’
Bentley says he might have tossed that visor down some like former Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier did during his coaching days.
“So many people and high school coaches invested in me so I am grateful for the opportunity to lead these young men and staff and make an impact on them,” Bentley said. “That is what coaching is all about. Making a difference.”
Bentley on gameday
About 90 minutes before game time, Bentley entered the field with a notebook in his hand and a black visor on his head to match his red Nation Ford polo.
After sitting on the bench for a few minutes to gather his thoughts, Bentley grabbed footballs and began setting them up on the 40-yard line as players came on the field for warmups.
Bentley bounced around to different groups before he settled in with the quarterbacks, his specialty. He works with starting quarterback Kason Canupp, who played for him last year at Rock Hill and followed him to Nation Ford, and is the trigger man for the Falcons’ offense. Canupp had over 1,000 yards passing in the first three games and had another big game against RNE.
During the pre-game meeting with officials, one of them mentioned that they remembered him from his time at Byrnes High School. Bentley started his career there before finishing it at Opileka in Alabama after his dad was coaching at Auburn.
Minutes before kickoff, Bentley gathered his team just inside the fence of the team’s entrance.
“Let’s go, let’s go boys,” he said as he started clapping to energize the team.
Bentley ended the talk by yelling, “Pull The Rope” as the players ran out on the field. Bentley’s “Pull The Rope” slogan is one he established when he took the job. It’s how they break down their huddles and is used on a lot of the team’s social posts.
“It’s about us as a team pulling the rope together to accomplish the same goal, and being able to be unified through that,” Bentley said.
A coach with a calm demeanor during the game
Bentley’s expertise is on offense. He’s the team’s main play caller, with his play-call sheet in his hands, scanning it over as the game begins. On this night, the Falcons’ offense ran on all cylinders, and scored its first touchdown less than 90 seconds into the first quarter.
For the most part, Bentley has a calm demeanor during the game. There were times when he did raise his emotions, one when he went sprinting down the sidelines after Patience Andrews caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Kanupp.
On a successful two-point conversion, Bentley raised his hands in the air and demonstrated a fist pump.
And even with the game in hand and his head set off, Bentley still coached. Nation Ford defensive lineman Lorenzo Smith was flagged for a late hit with three minutes left. He immediately pulled Smith from the game and had a heart-to-heart talk with him, his hand on his shoulder, before sending him back out on the field.
“I told him about the current situation we are in. It won’t affect us. But if we are in a close game, that flag is going to be detrimental to our success,” Bentley said. “Whether there is three minutes left in the game or walking down the hallway in the day, there always is an opportunity to coach. I challenge my coaches every play on tape. I want to see you coaching.”
After the game, Bentley gathered his team together and pointed out the positives and negatives of their performances. He talked about what they needed to improve on as they boarded their bus back to Fort Mill to get ready for the meat of their schedule.
“Enjoy it, men. That is how you take care of business and stay together,” Bentley said. “Game one, we didn’t do that. That shows growth and maturity. Super proud of you.”
