Quick fit with Blue Hose

A Day In The Life Slideshow

Photo: ALEX C. HICKS JR.
 

What Is Your '68

CLINTON -- The impromptu meeting occurred in the small foyer just feet away from Bobby Bentley's office on the Presbyterian College campus Tuesday evening.

Five coaches stood around and talked about the past two hours -- the first spring practice for the new staff and 65 football players that remained from the old regime.

They loved Grayson Mullins' ability to throw a quick pass.

They talked about a few snaps that weren't perfect.

They decided that there were a few receivers who ran excellent routes.

They talked about how smart the players were to grasp the offensive complexities that Bentley, the former coach at Byrnes High School had thrown at them.

"That's enough offense for me," linebackers coach Phil Magdic mumbled under his breath and walked away.

Praise for Tuesday's first practice continued, as the four offensive coaches stood and talked. But work needed to be done; so three coaches left the foyer and went to grab dinner in the cafeteria before it closed at 7 p.m.

Bentley walked into his office at 6:47 p.m., more than 12 hours after he woke up, drove from Lyman to Clinton, conducted a three-hour coaches meeting, watched film of recruits and finally got onto the field to coach his new team.

"This is a day I'll never forget," Bentley told his team as they huddled up 24 minutes earlier. "Blue Hose on two. One. Two."

"Blue Hose," the group yelled in unison.

7:11 a.m. -- The busy commute

Nine-year-old Jacob Bentley steps from his dad's new company car and walks down a breezeway to enter Duncan Elementary School.

"Pull your jacket up, Jake," Bentley says from the driver's seat. Even with each door and window closed, and his son 20 feet from the car, Jacob pulls the red jacket up on his shoulders.

If only Bentley, who woke up at 6:15 a.m. and got his three boys fed, could get that kind of connection with the four quarterbacks he will coach at Presbyterian.

After he drops off kids at two other schools, throwing out "I love yous" with his goodbyes, Bentley takes back roads toward I-26. His drive from home to his new job is only 38 miles, but for someone who drove a few minutes to Byrnes High School each day for five years, riding in a car could qualify as wasted time.

Not for Bentley -- someone who's adept at using every minute for work. So, Bentley makes phone calls (at 7:28 a.m. he calls to see if a practice field is lined off); he e-mails on his Blackberry and he listens to his Sirius radio (going between NPR and a Christian music channel).

At 8:14 a.m., he pulls onto campus, drives past the stadium and then over to check on the practice fields. He stops by the weight room, where former Byrnes assistant Eric Cash is now the strength coach, to see if a stereo, complete with Bose speakers, is set up.

Cash and wide receivers coach Jeff Scott are already in the building, preparing for the first day of practice.

Bentley unlocks his office door, sits at his desk and starts making lists on white legal pads. He has the task of planning a banquet for last year's Blue Hose players, a group only one person on his staff coached.

9:06 a.m. -- Meeting time

Four white boards line the walls in the coaches meeting room, with two personal desks in the corners and a large table in the middle.

Bentley sits at the head of the table, Magdic, who's also the assistant head coach, is on his right and defensive coordinator Julius Dixon is on the left. Other coaches sit around the table, which is cluttered by water bottles, notebooks and folders.

The meeting starts, just like every day, with a short devotion.

Offensive line coach Scott Frazier tells the staff what his "68" is, getting emotional as he speaks.

Bentley wants his coaches to learn more about each other, so talk of personal lives is at the forefront.

Jeff Scott, who went into town early in the morning to purchase a few items to help his fellow coaches, then presents everyone with a copy of the practice schedule and script of offensive plays.

He also gives out plastic covers to keep the papers in on the field.

"I don't need that," Bentley says. "I'm just an ol' high school coach."

Not anymore.

Bentley is now in charge of an eight-man coaching staff that worries about football only. There's no more teaching science, economics or driver's ed.

Then, for almost three hours, the coaches dissect everything about the day. From which players were hurt to which camera angles they wanted to shoot during each drill to which field a drill will be completed on. Changes are made, jokes are made and bonds are strengthened.

"I want you to take out a piece of paper," Bentley says in a voice more reminiscent of a teacher calling for a pop quiz. "On one side, I want you to list the things we've done. On the other side, a list of things we need to do."

His coaches write and simultaneously chat about the things on their lists. From an assistant strength coach to more computers, the staff compiles wish lists.

The lists are passed to the front and Bentley puts them away for later.

"I'm a list guy," Bentley says to his staff. "This will be something that in five years we can look back on."

1:58 p.m. -- The recruiting trail

A large Samsung TV sits in Bentley's office. Scott fixed his cable hook-up earlier in the morning, but Bentley isn't watching ESPN.

He has a highlight film in his VCR for a high school he's increasingly interested in.

"We need to live there," he jokes to Frazier before he asks who recruits the school.

The recruiting game is new to Bentley and he's learned that athletes can be hard to find, so recruiting is as much about knowing coaches, administrators and PC alumni in certain areas as it is to talk players into becoming a Blue Hose.

Game films come from across the country, and Bentley has already watched more than 75 players who will be seniors in the fall. A Division I-AA school may not be high on their list, but Blue Hose coaches want to be known by these standout players.

As a wide receiver sprints down the field, Bentley slows the motion to count his strides. In two smooth steps, the player covers 5 yards. And he's slowing down, as he gets closer to the end zone.

Another player busts through the line to make a tackle.

"That's the third player I'd offer off this one tape," he says.

Being a member of the Blue Hose football team, though, is as much about grades as it is athletics. Academic standards are higher, so players need better grades than a normal, academically qualified student.

Each afternoon, usually around 2 p.m., Bentley takes time to watch film on recruits, make calls to high school coaches and learn about other athletes. He doesn't just ask about football ability. He asks about grades, personality and character.

"I'll tell you what is honest -- that SAT score and GPA. That don't lie," Bentley says. "If you have a kid with a 3.0 and a 1,000 SAT score, he's usually a pretty good guy."

2:49 p.m. -- Position meetings

Terminology, cadence and hand signals have changed for the quarterbacks, so there is plenty to learn. Quarterbacks Tim Webb and Sean Foley are the first to Bentley's office and they go over signals together.

Bentley looks up from the notes he's making at his desk and smiles. Then he starts going through calls in rapid succession, as the quarterbacks relay the signals back to him.

Tuesday's first meeting wasn't a get-to-know-you session, but more of a what-do-you-know session.

Quarterbacks are quizzed on plays; they talk about routes and discuss the offensive script they will use during team drills for practice.

Bentley, doing his best impersonation of a Methodist churchgoer, is up and down from his chair. Reverting back to his days as a quarterback, he stands under an invisible center and mocks calls to his receivers. His loud voice echoes down the hallway.

"I want you to be loud. I want you to be a leader," Bentley says. "Let me know who's running the deal. It's your show, not mine."

3:43 p.m. -- On-field drills

Aerosmith's classic ballad "Sweet Emotion" drifts toward the practice fields from the fraternity houses that sit nearby. Shirtless frat boys stand on the large decks and watch their classmates work out on a seasonable late-March day with temperatures in the mid-60s.

A few former players show up, but not many fans from the Clinton area, which is a bit of a surprise for Bentley.

The team is arranged in a square to go through agility drills with Cash. The drills are similar to what the Byrnes Rebels did prior to each practice and game. The square, though, is much smaller, since there are only 65 players on the field compared to almost 100 Rebels.

"I want you to be loud and Blue Hose proud," Cash yells to the players as they clap and chant together.

Drills move quickly, sometimes without finishing, from one to another as Bentley and his staff keep the pace at frantic, to simulate game speed and get as many repetitions as possible.

"I'm too ADD to keep my mind focused on one thing," Bentley says. "I want to keep moving and keep it going."

A good play by a Blue Hose is quickly congratulated, as coaches swarm to offer high-fives and pats on the back.

"We believe in edifying others," Bentley says. "I think that's the way you do it and there is no other way. People don't want to be told all about their mistakes. They want to be built up.

"It doesn't matter if it's your wife or your kids or co-workers; everybody wants to feel loved and cared about. That's how we're going to build the program."

If good plays weren't praised by teammates, there was trouble. A linebacker tips a pass, intercepts it and starts to run before being stopped. When the whole defense didn't go over to the linebacker, Dixon makes the group do up-downs.

"He just got us one," Dixon yells during the punishment. "That man just made a big play."

Bentley works with the quarterbacks, as he attempts to rotate in all four guys. Mullins will be the starter and he shows why, making smart decisions, crisp passes and moving well out of the pocket.

"It's a lot different. It's a whole different terminology and whole different steps," Mullins says. "It's exciting for us. … (Bentley is) a little mastermind at it. We're learning every day and he's teaching every single detail and that's good. It will make us better."

During a drill, Mullins doesn't execute a play-action fake correctly, which prompts Bentley to demonstrate how it should be done.

Mullins nails it on the next try.

"That's it," Bentley says, running toward him. "That's the way to be coachable."

6:28 p.m. -- Off the field

Three plastic bottles -- probably none of them belonged to football players -- littered the edge of a practice field as Bentley, Frazier and Scott walked away from practice.

Each coach picks up a bottle as he moves toward the offices.

Players have already gone inside the locker room to shower and begin their evenings.

The coaches, though, were still in the middle of their workdays. Phone messages needed to be answered. High school coaches needed to be called. Practice video needed to be watched.

Bentley sits behind his desk at 6:47 p.m. to listen to his voice mails -- all 27 of them. He takes meticulous notes and then returns a few calls, without much luck.

People had already left their offices.

Not a football coach looking to build another program, though.

A few coaches head out to get dinner and then come back to Bentley's office to talk about Wednesday's practice and what they would do.

"Overall, I was very impressed with how the guys responded to how we practice," Bentley says later. "They'd been used to a different type of practice and you never know how they'll respond to an ol' high school coach coming in there running a 2-hour practice."

After they talk about the day, Bentley leaves his staff to drive back home. He pulls into his driveway at 8:26 p.m. -- he said he wouldn't get home that early during Byrnes' spring practice -- plays with his children and then works until midnight as he prepares for the next day.

The finishing touches

One day of practice and there's one thing that is certain -- Bentley and his staff will work hard to make PC's program a winner. They'll teach kids, love kids and love each other.

Bentley no longer wears one of his four state championship rings from Byrnes.

He now wants a national championship ring.

"It's not what you know, it's what the kids know. It's the young men who wear the PC. It doesn't matter what I know. It matters what they know," Bentley said.

"I don't know a whole lot, but I'll pour everything I have in my heart and my brain into that player. I'm coaching to make sure he gets everything I got."