Jake Bentley announces start of his coaching career as a graduate assistant
By Keith Farner
Published:
Jake Bentley had a long and well-traveled college football career as a talented quarterback. Now he’s beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant.
Bentley announced on Thursday that he will be a grad assistant with Florida Atlantic after a college career at South Carolina, Utah and South Alabama. Bentley will work with Owls’ head coach Willie Taggart.
Bentley spent 4 years with the Gamecocks from 2016-19, and passed for 7,527 yards yards and 55 touchdowns with 32 interceptions. One of his noted milestones came when he set a program record and passed for 510 yards in the Gamecocks’ 56-35 loss to Clemson in 2018. His final season with the Gamecocks was cut short by a foot injury in the 2019 season opener against North Carolina.
Bentley transferred to Utah in 2020, where he played in 5 games and passed for 882 yards, 6 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. After he picked Utah, Bentley explained that he wanted to experience a different culture, and a different environment.
Then he transferred to South Alabama, but suffered a knee injury in a game against Troy on Nov. 6. He returned to play for the Jaguars’ final regular season game against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 27. Despite the loss in overtime, Bentley completed 28 of 41 passes for 354 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in his final game as a player.
The Jaguars were 5-7 in 2021.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
