On Tuesday night, it was announced that former Rebel quarterback Shuler Bentley was returning to Duncan to serve as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Bentley, who was a two-time SC Gatorade Player of the Year with the Rebels, still holds multiple state passing records. He played collegiate football at Old Dominion before venturing into the college coaching realm. His most recent position held was as the offensive coordinator for Montgomery Catholic High School in Alabama.
Bentley is also the son of former state-champion Byrnes head coach Bobby Bentley.
“As a father, I’m proud of Shuler because he is accomplishing a goal of coaching at Byrnes,” said Bobby. “Absolutely no one will work as hard as he will to bring success to Byrnes football. It truly is in his blood. He was extremely successful as a Rebel quarterback, and I would expect the same from him as a coach on Nixon Field.”
Shuler sat down with GreerNews.com shortly after his official hiring was announced, chatting about the process of taking the position, the influence his father’s standard of offense will have on his schemes, and some of the Rebel players he’s most excited to get to work with.
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Greer News (GN): First of all, Shuler, congratulations. I’m sure it’s been a crazy 48 hours for you. Has the reality fully set in for you yet, or is it still kind of surreal?
Shuler Bentley (SB): Thank you, man, I appreciate it. It really is still kind of surreal. I went up to Byrnes a while back and did an interview and sat with [head coach] Shaw, [Principal Erin] Greenway, and [Athletic Director Russ] Howard. And I don’t think it really even hit me until the interview, the magnitude of the position I was interviewing for.
Obviously, I was attracted to it because I knew it. I knew Byrnes. But now that it's become official, it still doesn’t feel real. Truthfully, I don't think it will feel real until February when I actually get there. Even more truthfully, I don't know if it will feel real until probably that first practice and first game back.
I made sure to drive by the new Nixon Field stadium when I pulled up for the interview, and when I did, it was like cold shivers sent through me. Even back when I was playing, there were always talks of renovating Nixon Field, adding a Jumbotron, etc. And to finally see the fruits of the labor pay off, that was kind of a surreal moment.
But has it fully hit me yet? To answer your question, no. Right now, my wife is moving 1000 miles a minute trying to find us a place to live, and trying to find herself a job. So that's probably why it hasn’t hit. But once we get everything settled, I'm sure it'll hit me, and it'll be a good, good feeling to say at least.
GN: Your dad [former Byrnes head coach Bobby Bentley] mentioned earlier today that coming back and coaching at Byrnes was something you’ve had in your head for a while. How long have you known this is something you wanted to do?
SB: It probably starts with just how invested we were as a family back in Duncan. Dad's from there, we’re all from there. That's all we knew, all we were exposed to. For the first 18 years of my life, all I knew were Friday nights with the Byrnes Rebels.
So it's always been something on the radar, coming back here to coach. Did I think it would ever happen? I truly don't know. It was always kind of one of those deals, like, “maybe one day.” But around this last summer, I was having so much fun here as the offensive coordinator at Montgomery Catholic (AL), that it was becoming clear to me that, you know what? I think I'm just meant to be a high school football coach.
And if I'm going to be a high school football coach, what better place to be than Byrnes High School?
When this opportunity presented itself, when Coach Shaw and Miss Greenway offered me the job, I don't think I even let them finish the sentence without telling them, “I'll be there whenever you need me.”
To finally see it come around full circle, even after not being in the community for a little while, it’s incredible. And my phone has been buzzing and ringing since about 730 last night. It's all been people in Duncan saying, “If you need a place to stay, if you need anything, just let us know.”
It's just a reminder and extra assurance that, yeah, we're making the right decision. This is what we're doing, and we're going to be able to put roots down as a family.
GN: Going back in time to when you were a player at Byrnes, and even just being in the stands on Friday night as a kid…
SB: I’ve got to backtrack you there. Just on the fact that I wasn’t in the stands, I was a ball boy, and I worked. [laughs] I worked my tail off. Those fast-paced, high-powered offenses my dad liked to run? Those only ran as fast as the ball boys were going. So we ran our absolute faces off on that field.
GN: Then, I guess going back in time to when you were a player, and even further when you were a ballboy, Bobby Bentley’s offenses were always trademark. That spread offense that was in your face, relentless tempo, no let-up.
As an offensive coordinator now yourself, do you see yourself trying to carbon copy that here at Byrnes? Or will it be more of your own style of offense — with sprinkles of Bobby Bentley influence?
SB: Man, that’s a great question. But I really don’t think you can carbon copy what my dad did. I think that's what a lot of people get mistaken. I think what you can carbon copy is the mindset and the standard.
The mindset and the standard we had when we were really good on offense, whether it was 2002 or 2013, etc., was that we were going to score every time we got the ball. We fell short of that goal a time or two, but it was our goal that we were going to score every time we got the ball. That was our standard, regardless of whether the first string was in or some of the backups. Because we did our job so well that a lot of different guys were getting to play.
So, will some of the verbiage, some of the pass patterns, and some of the blocking schemes be the same? Yes, most definitely.
But I think the biggest key to success is having the adaptability to tailor your scheme to what fits you best. I can sit here and say right now that we’re going to throw the ball all over the place, which we are. That's going to be our goal. But we're also going to do whatever our players can do best, and whatever our quarterback can do best, and we’re going to make sure we are getting our best players involved.
Even with all those state championships Dad won, they were all won differently. It wasn't always the same. The standard and the expectation were the only things that stayed the same. That’s never wavered. And it's not going to waver. Schematically, we’re going to find out what we do well, and then get to it in many different ways.
GN: That’s a great segue into the next question. Have you had a chance to take a good look at some of the players and pieces you’ll be working with on offense? It’s certainly a solid core.
SB: Well, any coach would be lying to you if they said they weren't better coaches when they got to coach great players.
My dad was a much better quarterbacks coach when Willy Korn was his quarterback, as opposed to even when I was his QB. We were able to run the ball a lot better when Marcus Lattimore was our running back. As much as people want to complicate it, it’s not rocket science.
So, obviously, I was familiar with [Byrnes rising senior RB] Tre’ Segarra because of his dad. I was familiar with him because I keep in touch with his dad a good bit. And it was clear even from afar that his son is a special, special talent. And what’s even better is that I’ve heard nothing but good things about him as a person.
And then I look at a guy like [rising senior WR] Choo [Harris]. I love what I’ve seen him be able to do and what he can do in our offense. Growing up around his brother [Rahjai], I’ve been familiar with him for a while. So those two off the top of my head, and there's a multitude of playmakers that I'm not even mentioning at the moment. There are also some who might not have gotten an opportunity yet, but are going to step up and provide a spark for the Rebels.
GN: When this job opened, and it was eventually offered, how quickly did you reach out to your dad for advice? What did he tell you?
SB: My dad knew very quickly about this opportunity. When I got a phone call that Coach Shaw wanted to talk a little further about the position with me, my first call was to my wife, and she gave me the green light.
And then, the second call was to my dad. I said, “What do you think?”
And he was like, “Well, you do whatever you want to do, but I’ll tell you what I would do if I were you: I’d go get it.”
It’s just truly a blessing for me and my family to be able to put roots down. We've moved so much in seven years of coaching, and now, this is an opportunity for my wife, my 15-month-old daughter, and me to settle in. As our family grows, it’s going to be a blessing to just take a deep breath and relax, to put down roots and water them. And see the fruits of our labor, as a family, in the community, and on the football field.
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