Bentley talks Jake's transition, RB battle, Williams and returning to SC

Last December, Jake Bentley faced a life-changing decision.

His father, Bobby Bentley, had just been named running backs coach for South Carolina. Jake, a former quarterback at Byrnes High School in Duncan before moving to Opelika, Ala. in 2014 with his parents when Bobby was hired as an offensive analyst by Auburn, basically considered three options:

1) Stay in Alabama and play his senior season at Opelika High;

2) Attend high school in the Columbia area or

3) Graduate early from high school and enroll at South Carolina.

He chose the latter, and based on his performance so far in preseason camp, the decision looks to have been a wise one. According to Will Muschamp, Bentley has stayed competitive with redshirt senior Perry Orth and early enrollee Brandon McIlwain in the battle for the starting quarterback job.

“It’s great to see him out there,” Bobby Bentley said Tuesday. “It’s wonderful for our family to be all together. I’m proud of everything he has accomplished. Everything is going well considering he should be in high school. I peek in on him every once in a while and say, ‘Jake, you could be in high school enjoying some time off.’ He said, ‘Dad, I’m doing the right thing.’ He’s excited about it. It’s a lot of fun right now.”

The subject of Jake foregoing his senior year of high school was initially discussed at a Gamecocks coaches staff meeting. Word got back to Jake, who discussed it with his guidance counselor at Opelika High.

“Once he talked to his guidance counselor and figured out he had enough units, there was no looking back,” Bobby Bentley said. “I gave him some scenarios of playing here at South Carolina and some scenarios of staying (and playing football at Opelika). He decided he wanted to do it. It was his decision. I’m not sure it’s the best decision for everybody or anyone in particular, but in Jake’s case he was ready and he loves the state of South Carolina. It fit for him.”

After watching his two older brothers leave home to go play quarterback for Rutgers and Ole Dominion, Jake sought to stay closer to home.

“I think it mattered (to Jake) to stay the tight, close-knit family that we are,” Bentley said. “I think that played a major part in his decision.”

In his relationship with his son, Bobby Bentley realizes he must separate the football side from the personal side. That means he won’t look over the shoulder of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper and question any decision made affecting his son.

“You just focus on your guys and not worry about what he has to do,” Bentley said. “The good thing is he has a heckuva quarterbacks coach in Kurt Roper. I don’t have to look over his shoulder. Coach Muschamp will guide the whole deal. That way I can focus on running backs and do my job.”

Perhaps Bentley’s biggest challenge in preseason camp has been trying to get redshirt junior David Williams straightened out. After an encouraging spring, Williams started camp poorly and quickly dropped down the depth chart to fifth-string with redshirt freshman A.J. Turner jumping up to No. 1 running back.

“After the first day of practice, there was a clear message that he was fifth-string,” Bentley said. “He got the message loud and clear. He understands what his role is and what he has to do.”

Progressing steadily, Williams has methodically climbed the ladder and now finds himself battling Rod Talley for the No. 2 job behind Turner, who has not relinquished the top spot. If anything, the gap between Turner and the other running backs has grown wider.

“He brings energy to the table,” Bentley said of Turner. “He plays the way we want our team to be with effort, toughness and discipline. He epitomizes what we want to be right now. He is sharpening the other guys. He is making our room better. It has made David better, no doubt.”

By rallying, Williams has positioned himself to get playing time in next Thursday’s season opener at Vanderbilt, where he scored his first career touchdown two years ago as a redshirt freshman on a 2-yard run.

“David has improved in the last week,” Bobby Bentley said. “He has gotten himself in position to where he can compete for playing time. Early on, just trying to get him to do exactly what we expected him to do, especially with his talent and size, (was difficult). He is one of the most talented running backs we have. But he has to play a little tougher and faster, and a little harder up to our standards. He is doing that now.”

Williams’ biggest problem has been his independence streak, trying to do too much without looking for assistance from his teammates.

“As a coach, you’re trying to take a player where he can’t take himself,” Bentley said. “David has tried to do it himself a certain way. We’re going to get David to another level and that’s when we’ll talk about the new David. We talk about a new makeover, the new David Williams. He has to pick his knees up and be a one-cut runner. This is a north-south, one-cut league because the defenses are so good. You have to make one cut, get vertical, get your pads down and fall forward.”

USC’s top three running backs when the Gamecocks travel to Nashville will likely be Turner, Williams and Talley, and Bentley envisions a ‘running back by committee’ approach in how he divides the carries.

Which running back will get the most carries in the opener? TBD.

“Coach Muschamp, Coach Roper and I will sit down and figure out the exact carries and number of plays, but right now our guys are still battling, still competing every single day for playing time and for reps,” Bentley said. “Darius Paulk is in the mix as well. We’ll see where it goes. Hopefully, the guys will continue to play to our standard, not their standard. They have to raise their level to what we want.”

After two years away from coaching on the field, Bentley is pleased to be back on the sidelines, leaving Auburn to join Muschamp and two other former Tiger coaches in Columbia. Bonus? He’s returned to his home state. Bentley graduated from Byrnes in 1986 and played football at Presbyterian, graduating in 1990.

When he joined Auburn in 2014, it marked the first time he has lived and worked outside the Palmetto State for an extended period of time.

“I’m living a dream,” Bentley said. “If anybody can say that, I can. Getting to coach in my home state, getting to play inside the stadium where we won state championships, where I played for the state championship, whenever I hear the words Williams-Brice, they mean a lot to me and my family. It’s great to be in this situation. I’m very thankful.”