[Sly Fox]

Welcome time

Presbyterian was included in the media day festivities, even though the school won't be eligible for a Big South football championship until 2011.

The Blue Hose, who will play as an FCS independent this season before being included on all Big South schedules next year, made a splash by hiring Bentley, who was the head coach at Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C., and is a PC alum.

Byrnes was 11-2 last year and made two national television appearances. It was ranked as high as No. 2 in USA Today's prep rankings during the year.

Bentley expects a learning curve at Presbyterian. Some coaches would be frustrated by not being able to compete for a conference championship for the next four years, but Bentley said the lag time is "comforting."

"The thing for me, is that it allows me to have some time as a buffer," Bentley said. "I'd like to see the program in four years be where (the current Big South members) are, competing for a conference championship."

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[Sly Fox]

From Ian in the Myrtle Beach fishwrap:

Victories not a concern for Presbyterian

CONCORD, N.C. | Presbyterian College's new coach got his first taste of the Big South Conference during the league's football media day.

Though Bobby Bentley will not have a shot at a conference title until 2011, he played a part in Friday's activities.

And he hopes playing four of the five Big South teams this season will also pay dividends.

"We can't focus on wins. We can't focus on the Big South. We gotta focus on keeping our football team a team," said Bentley, who parlayed a successful decade-long stint as the head coach at Byrnes High School into the gig at Presbyterian.

'Because it's going to be tough to sit back and look, 'Our victory doesn't count in the Big South standings. Our player doesn't get recognized as much as the other guys in the Big South.'"

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[jcmanson]

They make a splash by hiring a high school coach??

[Sly Fox]

And here's a quick writeup on Bentley in today's Spartansburg fishwrap:

Bentley the new kid in Big South

By DAN ARMONAITIS, For the Herald-Journal
Published July 28, 2007

CONCORD, N.C. - Bobby Bentley - along with members of the media and several of his coaching peers at a luncheon - was watching Big South Conference video highlights from last season when the reality of his newly acquired status as a Division I college football coach began to sink in.

"Just watching that video, it really hit me - 'Man, this is college football, we've got to get going,' " Bentley said. "The challenge is even more real now that you sit around and you watch these guys move around and you see these big guys here."

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[Chris Lang]

They make a splash by hiring a high school coach??

Relative splash, yes. Byrnes was a high-profile program, appeared on TV a lot, had plenty of exposure in Sports Illustrated. And with Bentley being a PC alum, I'd qualify it as a splash, even if it was more of a splish.