Looking At Bentley's Move

I’m not sure what to make of Bobby Bentley’s move this week from Presbyterian College head football coach to a newly formed role as a District Five athletic director and public relations person.

While I think he’ll adapt to his new role I wonder how and why he suddenly is turning off the coaching valve after so many years on the sidelines and serving as a head coach on either the high school or college level since 1994.

Perhaps the move up to PC, a school early in its transition to the NCAA’s FCS division (the former Division I-AA), proved to be more than he bargained for as building such a program means you take your lumps. Presbyterian was 6-5 in his first season (playing just three games at home) but dropped to 4-8 in 2008 and the road moving forward is one with more bumps than it is smooth.

Maybe the adjustment to the life of a college football coach compared to that on the high school level provided some personal and family challenges he wasn’t quite ready for. He continued a commute from the Duncan area to Clinton each day, which can take its toll after a while, and was on the road more than he ever had been recruiting. While the hours at the office were long at Byrnes he was always just a few minutes from his house and home each night after work.

My guess is that he’ll use the next couple of years to regroup and reassess where he’s going with his career. I don’t think his move out of college after just two years will necessarily work as a strike against him because it’s clear the task he had at PC and those looking at him in the future will likely understand the unique set of circumstances he encountered and that he determined were better for someone else to deal with. He’ll find out in the coming months either how much he misses running his own team or how much there is in the world away from the rigors of guiding one.

My bet is that his next stop in coaching will be on the college and not the high school level as I think there’s plenty he likes about the collegiate game, just not the particular job that he was in.

I’m not sure to what level he’ll ascend but I think he’ll remain viable based on his credentials established in high school and the play-calling ability he showed in college in two seasons.

How long before he gets the itch to return is probably the biggest question surrounding his transition.