When it hosts projected Top 25 Illinois on Sept. 6, Duke will enjoy inside knowledge on the visitors.
Well, at least the Tim Beckman-Bill Cubit era Illini.
V’Angelo Bentley, a three-year starting defensive back at Illinois from 2013-15, is in his second season as Duke’s cornerbacks coach.
He joined Manny Diaz’s staff after earlier coaching stops with the New England Patriots in the NFL and Penn State and Ohio State in college.
Diaz is a Bentley booster.
“He’s doing a phenomenal job,” Diaz told me recently. “Early on, I was impressed with how V’Angelo worked. I was very impressed in terms of how the players took to him.
“Since he’s been here, he’s fit right in with what we’re trying to do as a staff.”
Ten years after his college days ended, Bentley remains at the top of the Illinois record book for career kickoff return yards and is fourth in career punt return yards. During his time in Champaign-Urbana, Bentley scored touchdowns on kickoff, punt, interception and fumble returns, becoming the first in Illinois history to pull off the grand slam for a returner.
When I caught up with him earlier in the spring after a Blue Devils practice, Bentley was happy to reminisce about his Illinois time.
As he joined the Duke staff before the 2024 season, Bentley knew his alma mater was on the 2025 schedule. And that he has a return gig at Memorial Stadium in 2026.
“That’ll be fun. I know they’re building up in Champaign,” he said. “They’ll come in with a game plan, and we’ll try to get better at ours. Be ready to go out and execute.”
The current Blue Devils know the 31-year-old Bentley could play.
“They looked it up,” Bentley said.
While his primary focus is on the defensive backs, Bentley said he helps out in the return game, too.
“I’m always available, an open book for whoever has questions,” Bentley said. “Any information I can give our guys to make them better, that’s what I’m here for.”
Origin story
After completing his Illinois career in 2015 with two degrees, Bentley signed as a free agent with the New England Patriots. He spent 2016 in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before starting his coaching career.
Was that always in the plans for the Cleveland native?
“Honestly, coaching was an accident,” he said. “I had gotten released from the CFL, NFL and I was at home working out back in Cleveland.”
Then-Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was recruiting at Glenville High School, where Bentley had starred.
They bumped into each other when Bentley took his younger brother to school.
Meyer remembered Bentley, who returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown against the Buckeyes in 2013.
“We talked a little bit and he said, ‘Hey, if there is anything I can help you with, you want to come on down to Ohio State, I can show you around, show you the different avenues we have as far as coaching, player development,’” Bentley said.
Bentley took Meyer up on the offer, visited Columbus and realized he wanted to get into coaching.
“I was like, ‘What do you want me to do?’ And he said, ‘I just want you to learn,’” Bentley said. “I was at a low point of my life. It was an opportunity I had to take full advantage of.”
Successful as a player in college, Bentley expected it to continue in pro football.
“You’ve been working so hard to be the first-rounder, the multi-million dollar guy,” Bentley said. “When you start to see that not come to fruition, you’ve just got to see where you are, know where you are and change your mentality to go out and find something else to do.
“When I got into the coaching side of it, I realized it didn’t feel like work. That’s when I knew it was for me.”
Two stops in the Power Four and an NFL gig later, Bentley is working with an ACC contender coming off a nine-win season.
He counts Meyer, Penn State’s James Franklin and Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks among his mentors.
Banks, who was Bentley’s defensive coordinator at Illinois, told him: “You should be a coach.”
Bentley’s response at the time: “No chance.”
Bentley briefly crossed paths with Diaz at Penn State. They later got better acquainted when his future boss visited with Bill Belichick in New England. When Diaz offered him the job at Duke, Bentley made the decision to return to the college game.
“At a place like Duke, you were coming to be around the best of the best,” Bentley said. “It wasn’t just the best football players. It was the best doctors, the best lawyers, the network of Duke. When you leave the game of football, you leave these other elements of life that will help you flourish.”
Year 1 was “something to build on,” Bentley said. “We did some good things,” the former Illini continued. “Did some things we can get corrected going into this season.”
Big-time talent
The talk of the offseason at Duke was transfer quarterback Darian Mensah. In his one year as a starter at Tulane, the Californian hit 66 percent of his passes for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns to go along with six interceptions.
“I really like the way he fits in with our culture here and our players here,” Diaz said. “Certainly, a highly productive guy for a first-year starter. He did a great job down there at Tulane.
“We think he adds an element to our offense that we lacked a year ago, which is his ability to extend plays both as a thrower and as a runner with his feet. We’re happy he’s here. We’ve been nothing but pleased with his progress and development.”
Duke, which finished 9-4 last season and lost 52-20 to No. 16 Mississippi in the Gator Bowl, opens the season Aug. 28 at home against FCS school Elon, then hosts Illinois the following Saturday at a time still to be determined.
“It should be one of the top games in the country that week,” Diaz said. “You’ve got two teams that combined to win 19 games last year. There’s probably not too many matchups similar to that early.
“It’s also great to have a Big Ten team here at Wallace Wade Stadium. It’s the type of game you want to be able to challenge your team with early in the season to see where you’re at.”
The return trip to Champaign in 2026 won’t be a new experience for Diaz. He was defensive coordinator at Penn State in 2023 when the Nittany Lions beat 30-13 Illinois at Memorial Stadium.
Diaz has known Illinois coach Bret Bielema for about a decade,
“I’m not surprised at all by the success he’s having there,” Diaz said. “If you can play great defense and get good play from the quarterback position, you’re going to have a chance to win. That’s certainly what they’ve been able to do there. And really that’s our model for building our program here, as well.”
The Miami head coach from 2019-21, Diaz spent two years running Franklin’s defense in State College.
“I really enjoyed the culture there,” Diaz said. “The toughness of the kids. The camaraderie.”
Diaz had friends on then-coach Mike Elko’s staff at Duke and heard nothing but positive reports.
“What we had going at Penn State was very similar to what was going on at Duke,” Diaz said. “I felt like it would be a place that would be aligned with the ideals that I was looking for.”
Diaz is trying to build the football program at a place where basketball is king.
“It’s a great thing,” Diaz said. “To me, the four letters Duke represent the standard. Where I feel lucky is that Duke is supporting football in a way beyond how they ever have. We’re trying to get our football program to the same level of excellence where are men’s and women’s basketball programs are at.”
Diaz doesn’t mind a challenge. He was fired after three seasons at Miami and bounced back to lead another Power Four team. He learned from what went went wrong with the Hurricanes.
“Such great lessons,” he said. “No different than we would expect a player to learn from their experience game by game and year by year. You do the same thing as a head football coach. There’s nothing like it. The more you do it, the better you get at it. I’m thankful for having another shot here at Duke.”