'All Out There in Front' of Clemson LB LaVonta Bentley
LaVonta Bentley could have went almost anywhere he wanted to play college football.
The linebacker from Birmingham, Alabama, who joined Clemson as part of its 2019 class, was highly sought after during the recruiting process, sporting offers from most of the SEC heavyweights, as well as other schools like Oregon and Florida State.
It was the family-like feel of the Clemson program, along with P.A.W. Journey that ultimately helped lead Bentley to choose the Tigers. A decision he made knowing it meant having to be patient and biding his time due to a deep and talented group of linebackers on the roster.
After registering six tackles in just 10 snaps while redshirting in 2019, Bentley only saw a slight uptick in time on the field last season. The hard-hitting linebacker made the most of his 73 snaps, though, recording 16 tackles with 4.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
With James Skalski deciding to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to all college football players by the NCAA, it's possible that Bentley might have to practice a little more patience next season. However, the Clemson football program is full of examples of patience paying off for players, and head coach Dabo Swinney maintains that Bentley's best football is still ahead of him.
"Redshirt sophomore, had a good redshirt freshman year and he did, he showed some progress," Swinney said. "You know, certainly with Skalski coming back I mean that's... Skalski is Skalski, he's pretty special. But it's all out there in front for LaVonta."
Heading into his third season in the program, some are anticipating that this will be the year that Bentley starts to earn more playing time. Before the Tigers broke for spring practice, Swinney said Bentley was having his best spring to date and the Tigers' head coach fully expects that to continue to be the case.
"He has been awesome," Swinney said. "He's had by far his best, you know, nine practices that he's had since he's been at Clemson. He's been very consistent, he's grading really well. He's productive making plays and, you know, he's a really good football player, so I'm very encouraged what I've seen from him."
