Linebacker Bentley brings 'presence' to Purdue

CHICAGO — When Darrell Hazell walked into DeMatha Catholic in Maryland to meet with linebacker recruit Ja'Whaun Bentley about four years ago, he sat down in a conference room and was in awe.

“I remember thinking he was a grown man, talking to him,” Hazell said earlier this week at Big Ten media day. “He was a 17-year-old guy — and it’s because some of the struggles he went through growing up as a kid, I’m sure that’s helped his development, some of the hardships he went through — but he was well beyond his years at 17 years old.”

Upon first arrival to Purdue in 2014, Bentley largely watched, listened and worked. He rarely spoke up, despite being an immediate starter at linebacker and, ultimately, a full-time one. He didn’t feel as though it was his place to try to press as a leader. Not with senior captain Sean Robinson in the corps, not with him being a rookie.

So he spent the year earning respect by doing his job, treating everything like a “professional,” he says, from his approach in the classroom to the weight room to the practice field to film study and to games.

In that first season, he finished with 76 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass.

“He was more, ‘I’m going to do my work and it’ll show on the field’ type of person,” senior receiver DeAngelo Yancey said of Bentley’s first season. “But everybody knew he was working.”

Bentley’s never stopped, but he also started speaking up more once Robinson left, seizing the vacated vocal leadership spot in that room and, eventually, extending that reach to the rest of the team.

Now, it’s common for Bentley to be the man in the middle of pre-practice huddles, barking words to inspire or get teammates fired up. He also will pull players aside on the practice field to spout wisdom. He’s made a point this offseason to get freshmen in line quickly, appreciating the difficulty of their adjustment but also allowing only so much time to do so. He calls it a “welcome to college” speech.

“I think the first thing that makes him a good leader is he doesn’t say anything until he has to say something. There’s no idle talk,” Hazell said. “He gets up in front of the room and he spells it out clearly and concisely, and he’s very demanding when he talks to the guys. They all sit up and listen.”

That includes veterans.

Senior defensive tackle Jake Replogle, who likely could serve alongside Bentley as a defensive captain this fall, said Bentley earned his respect by leading by example. He never “messes up,” Replogle said, whether off the field or in the way he works. That approach opened the door for Replogle to be receptive of Bentley’s words then, too.

And has made Bentley a player Replogle turns to when the hammer needs to be put down, so to speak.

“He showed pretty early he’s not going to tolerate other stuff. So if someone is slacking off, he’ll be the first one to say something. That kind of trickles down,” Replogle said. “It’s gotten to the point where he’s definitely not the only one. If someone is messing up, they’re going to get called out. I think that’s something that’s really helped this team, more personal accountability, and I think Ja’Whaun was a big reason for that.”

Bentley’s work, too, speaks volumes.

After tearing an ACL before the Minnesota game last season, Bentley took about a day, he says, to shake off the disappoint before changing his mindset to one of rehab and recovery. He shocked even coaches when he was able to participate in the spring at nearly full speed, though he was held out of the contact periods. It was a product of the way Bentley attacked rehab, and it’ll allow him to enter training camp at what he called 100 percent.

Even while he rehabbed, Bentley was mindful teammates were watching. So he didn’t want to let up at all.

Because, even though many would consider him as a player who has “arrived,” Bentley doesn’t see it that way.

He can’t.

“I have to continuously earn (respect),” he said. “I focus on taking it day by day. What that entails is, yeah, I’m starting now, but I have to earn my starting job every day. When it comes to the weight room, OK, you’re a starter. How? Prove it. Act like the starter. What do you do as a starter? Try to keep your job. That’s the kind of professional mentality you have to have. That’s something I always want to show my team, that you have somebody that even though he’s in a role, he’s going to work to keep that role and then you won’t question why he has the role.”

No one does.

Whether he speaks or simply works, Bentley has proven plenty. Just by how he is.

“It’s, like, a presence,” Yancey said. “When he walks into the room, you know, ‘OK, he’s about business.’ ”

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