Malzahn reaches out to South Carolina HS coach, who declines offer

AUBURN – Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has reached out to prominant South Carolina high school coach Bobby Bentley about joining the Tigers coaching staff, according to multiple reports. Bentley, the offensive coordinator at Byrnes HS, told SportsTalk in South Carolina he had been offered a position by Malzahn, supposedly to coach quarterbacks, and has since issued a statement saying he will be coaching at Byrnes.

“I am committed to District 5 and Byrnes,” Bentley reportedly told SportsTalk. “I have not taken a job at any other school and will be coaching at Byrnes.”

FootballScoop.com and al.com both cited the Auburn’s interest in Bentley, the 2005 Nike National Coach of the Year, who coached Byrnes from 1995-2006 and had a 107-52 record including four straight AAAA Division II state championships from 2002-2005. He coached Presbyterian College, his alma mater, in 2007-08, and resigned to become the athletic director of Spartanburg School District 5.

Malzahn hired Rhett Lashlee to be offensive coordinator on Dec. 7. What position Lashlee will coach has not been specified but he played as a quarterback under Malzahn in high school and at Arkansas.