Former Gamecocks QB accepts in-state high school assistant coaching job

Former South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley has landed a high school coaching position back in the Palmetto State.

Bentley will be the new quarterback coach, co-offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator at Rock Hill High School. Chris Miller of WHRI radio was the first to report the news on Friday. Rock Hill has a new head coach in Randy Birch who had been defensive coordinator at Gaffney.

“Fired up about it, we are going to build something special at The Rock,” Bentley told The State Friday night. “Coach Birch is a big-time coach and an even better person that I am excited to work with.”

This is Bentley’s first high school coaching opportunity after spending two seasons as a college coach. He was a graduate assistant coach at Florida Atlantic in 2022 and then quarterbacks coach and video coordinator at FCS North Alabama last year.

Bentley, 26, 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 now in his first season at Battle Ground Academy, a private school located in Franklin, Tennessee.

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.