Exclusive interview with former NFL and Northwestern LB Kevin Bentley
A discussion with Kevin Bentley about his recruiting process from California to Northwestern
All former NFL and college players have a different path to gridiron glory but some stories reveal a more challenging road than others, such is the story of Kevin Bentley.
Bentley was a budding Los Angeles area football star in 1995 playing linebacker for Chatsworth High School in the San Fernando Valley as a sophomore. A conversation with friend, and future Wisconsin Badger defensive back, Carlease Clark may have forever altered the football career of Bentley’s. Clark suggested transferring to Montclair High School where the talent on the football team was better and the academics were great.
Bentley jumped at the opportunity and the rest, as they say, is history.
Montclair coaches helped mold Bentley into an All-State player earning All-League, All-Valley, and All-Region honors. Despite being undersized as a 6’1”, 190 pound linebacker, college coaches recruited the linebacker heavily with Cal Berkeley giving Bentley his first offer as a junior, a rare occurrence in the 1990’s.
Before long seemingly every other major program in the nation was after the Montclair star including local favorites UCLA and USC. But Bentley had another school in mind. Going against the grain the all-everything California linebacker upset hundreds if not thousands blazing a trail to Northwestern.
While at Northwestern the still undersized linebacker was highly productive earning All Big Ten honors and was named as a finalist for the Butkus Award. Once Bentley’s college career was finished he had compiled 390 tackles finishing his senior season with 147 stops.
The Browns selected Bentley, despite his smaller size for a linebacker then weighing 217 pounds, in the Fourth Round with the 101st overall selection in the 2002 NFL Draft. Once at the NFL level Bentley grew into his frame bulking up to 247 pounds allowing him a long professional career playing until 2012 with:
Cleveland – 2002 – 2005
Seattle – 2005 – 2008
Houston – 2008 – 2011
2011 Indianapolis
2012 Jacksonville
In an exclusive interview Kevin Bentley sat down for a one-on-one interview discussing his high school and college career, his recruitment process, and tips for high school players trying to figure out a college program that best suits their next level needs.
Kevin, when did you become a starter for your high school team?
“I transferred from Chatsworth to Montclair in between my sophomore and junior season. I started as a freshman for Chatsworth’s junior varsity team and as a sophomore for the varsity team. I was a starter my junior and senior seasons at Montclair.”
Was there a point when you realized you had a shot at playing college football?
“After my sophomore year I started to realize I had a shot at the next level. At Chatsworth we were not very good. I think we finished 4-7 or something like that. That’s what got me to transfer. Clark got me to transfer to Montclair. I looked at the school and the academics. It was a no brainer to transfer. I started the application process then took the entrance exam. I scored high on the exam and they accepted me. I moved that summer.”
Bentley continues, “My junior year I was a starter and started playing well. Montclair was known for having good athletes, so the college coaches were always coming by the school. The coaches started coming more and more then I got my first scholarship offer from Cal my junior year. I was super excited. Then I truly realize that I had the opportunity to play at the next level.”
Despite how well you played on the field why did it take an offer from Cal for you to realize you could play in college?
“Unlike most kids I grew up playing basketball. I didn’t start playing football until my 9th grade year. I was still fairly new to the sport. It was awesome to get the offers. My senior year went great and I got a lot more offers.”
Bentley adds, “The process is a lot different now. Ninth and tenth graders are getting offers now. Back then you started getting offers close to the end of your senior season.”
How many offers did you have at the end of your senior season?
“I don’t remember. I do remember I took all five visits. I visited Arizona, Arizona State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Cal. Unofficially I went to USC, UCLA, and Stanford. I didn’t want to waste an official visit on the schools I could drive to visit. Lot of my classmates were mad I didn’t go to UCLA.”
Do you remember what your personal process was for picking your top schools and ultimately Northwestern?
“No. 1 was academics, that is why Berkeley and Northwestern were huge schools for me. Arizona was good academically at that time, not sure how they are now. The second part was the coaches on staff. I knew I wanted to play in a 4-3 scheme, I understood the system. I wanted to make sure I was a fit for the defensive coordinator’s scheme. The third factor was making sure I could get playing time early.”
Bentley continues, “I had an opportunity to play early at the other schools, there were spots that were going to be open because of graduating seniors but I stuck with my decision to play at Northwestern.”
Any other tips for high school players who are about to hit the recruiting trail?
“When choosing a school look at academics heavily. If you are a good ball player they will find you. Focus on your academics while your are still in high school. When it comes time to make a decision on a school follow your heart. My gut told me that Northwestern was the right choice for me, adhere to that and trust it.”
What about the promises recruits get from college coaches? How should players take that into consideration?
“Make sure they do their homework. They will get a lot of promises of X, Y, and Z. A lot of under the table dealings to get the players to a certain school but many will never get to play once they are there. Recruiting these days has become all about ratings and reviews, rankings and number of recruiting stars associated with the players.”
Bentley adds, “I would tell any recruit to make sure they understand who is on the roster and how they will be used should they enroll there. Talk to people around the campus, not just the coaches on the football staff. Talking to people in the community is how you get the real information. Understand the other side of life around the program.”
How did you come about your final decision on Northwestern?
“I was all set to go to Cal but Northwestern begged for me to visit the campus. I agreed to make the visit and just fell in love with the program. The guys were awesome. I got along with everyone really well. All the pieces just came together.”
This had to make a few people back home mad.
“Picking Northwestern was an unpopular decision. It made a lot of coaches, classmates and even parents mad. Still, I felt like going to Northwestern was something I needed to do and the right decision for me. I was lucky, my parents allowed me to make my own choice. In hindsight it worked out. The one knock everyone kept saying was Northwestern was not a good football school. I didn’t care. I had made my decision.”
The coaches got mad at you?
“Yeah, even the coaches got mad at me. Primarily the coaches that had recruited me but even the high school coaches in the valley were upset that I didn’t go to a big time football school close to home.”
How important were grades for you while in high school?
“Very important, I finished with a GPA above 4.0.”
What was your major in college?
“I majored in Communications and Business Institutions. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA. I was on the All Big Ten Academic Team from 1998 through 2001.”
What advice do you have for high school kids looking to play college football?
“Make sure you are taking academics seriously. These days everyone is good and everyone has the grades. Today, no matter how good you are, if you don’t have the grades you can get overlooked in a heartbeat. In the old days they would find a way to get you in. Now they want the smart player. Most importantly, develop a routine for studying in high school that they can carry over into college.”
Once on the college campus, what did you do to adjust to your new surroundings and to the hectic schedule of playing college football?
“I went out early to school with a couple other California guys. We left right after graduation in June. I got a job and trained with the team all summer.”
What was the hardest adjustment to the demands of playing football and keeping up your class work?
“The hardest thing was managing my time properly. The routine is practice, meetings, and then going to class. You have to make sure you are on your studies at all times. Everyone wants to play video games with their buddies but I realized a lot of kids were at Northwestern just for the academics. I had to compete in the classroom as much as I did on the field.”
Bentley is walking the walk about buckling down with one’s studies. He is now a graduate student at Rice University seeking to attain his MBA. With one year left in the program Bentley has his sights set on a new career off the gridiron working in finance or private wealth management.
Photo credit: newstimes.com; No. 57 Kevin Bentley instructs the Seattle defense.