Tim Beck shows how fast the coaching world can change in a month.
Beck was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Texas, but on Dec. 1, he was altered to just coaching the quarterbacks leading up to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. The Longhorns overwhelmed No. 11-ranked Utah 38-10 on Tuesday night to finish 9-5, and by 12 p.m. today, he was introduced as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at NC State.
The move made sense on several levels, due to his pre-existing coaching relationship with NCSU head coach Dave Doeren and offensive line coach John Garrison. Beck was wide receivers coach at Kansas in 2005 when Doeren was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Jayhawks. Beck was the passing game coordinator when the Jayhawks went 12-1 in 2007, finishing second in the country in scoring (42.8 points per game) and eighth in total offense (479.8 yards), reaching a coveted goal of playing in the Orange Bowl.
"I am so excited to bring Tim Beck to NC State to run our offense," Doeren said. "I have known Tim for over 20 years and know that he is a difference maker who demonstrates what a leader, motivator, and connector is all about. He will take our offense and build it around the strengths of our personnel. It will be versatile, aggressive, and player friendly.
"Tim has worked with some of the best offensive coaches in the game at both Ohio State and Texas and I look forward to seeing him run his stuff here. Since our time together at the University of Kansas, I have wanted to work with him. He is also one of the best recruiters in college football."
Beck eventually left Kansas two years prior to head coach Mark Mangino getting dismissed. He used the Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech, 24-21, to get hired at Nebraska, where he worked under head coach Bo Pelini. He was at Nebraska from 2008-14, which overlapped when Garrison was at Nebraska as an intern, assistant offensive line coach/tight ends coach and offensive line coach.
Nebraska went 66-27 and 39-17 in the Big 12 and Big Ten during that time period. Pelini and Beck both grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, with Beck a little over a year older. Beck, Pelini, Bob Stoops, Mark Stoops and Mike Stoops are all alums of Cardinal Mooney High.
Beck went from running backs coach at Nebraska (2008-2010) to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach until Pelini was dismissed in 2014.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer hired him to be the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2015-2016, and then he joined Tom Herman at Texas in 2017. Herman was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State from 2012-2014, just prior to Beck’s arrival.
Beck mentored Longhorn quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who ranked fourth nationally in total offense, ninth in passing yards and 13th in touchdown passes in the regular season. Ehlinger ranks second in school history in passing yards. The Longhorns also had a first-team all-conference wide receiver and two offensive linemen this season.
Texas has converted 86-of-175 (49.1 percent) third downs this season, which is the ninth-best conversion rate nationally and the No. 2 mark among Big 12 programs in 2019. For the past two seasons, the Longhorns have posted some of the nation's top numbers in time of possession despite playing in the fast-paced Big 12. In 2018, UT ranked fourth in the FBS in turnovers lost, went three straight games without a turnover and did not turn the ball over in five total games for the season.
Ehlinger passed for 3,292 yards and accounted for 41 touchdowns — 25 passing and 16 rushing — becoming the first player in UT history to pass for at least 25 touchdowns and rush for at least 15 in a season in 2018.
The arrival of Beck has shifted quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper to running backs coach for the Wolfpack. Roper had previously coached running backs at Tennessee.
George McDonald, who was co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator last year, will have the latter two titles, plus passing game coordinator and assistant head coach.
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