Utah Utes Football Name Jason Beck New Offensive Coordinator
Dec 5, 2024, 7:15 PM | Updated: Dec 6, 2024, 10:59 am
SALT LAKE CITY—Utah Football has named New Mexico’s Jason Beck as their new offensive coordinator, who joins the Utes after one season with the Lobos.
Beck coordinated the Lobos offense to averages of 33.5 points per game and 484.3 total yards, with 253.5 per game on the ground and 230.7 through the air.
After Utah missed on two targets, Kyle Whittingham pivoted and shifted his focus toward the New Mexico coordinator. Beck checks many boxes, most notably adaptability, creativity, and production.
𝐔𝐓𝐀𝐇‼️ Join us in welcoming our new Offensive Coordinator @Coach_Beck7 and his family to Salt Lake City‼️
📰: https://t.co/lFhtFR3xyD#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/tdwAbMp2X8
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) December 6, 2024
Now, Beck is in charge of an offense for a Power Conference contender. After consecutive seasons of offensive struggles, Utah needs to revitalize the offensive attack.
Jason Beck, Utah’s New Offensive Coordinator
Beck has long served as a quarterbacks coach in college football. The 44-year-old has 15 seasons under his belt, all of which have been coaching quarterbacks. He added offensive coordinator duties in 2023 while at Syracuse and carried that title to New Mexico this past season.
Perhaps the most encouraging numbers are the average against Power Conference opponents (Arizona, Auburn, Washington State). Beck guided the Lobos to averages of 32.0 points, 484.0 total yards, 242.3 yards on the ground, and 241.6 through the air in those three contests.
Before his time with New Mexico, Beck called the offense for the Orange in 2023. The offense averaged 23.5 points per game as Syracuse navigated significant injury issues on offense that season. He was the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2022 and coached Garrett Shrader to 2,640 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and just 7 interceptions in 12 games.
Before arriving at Syracuse, Beck was the quarterback’s coach at Virginia from 2016 to 2021. His time there was highlighted by the production of quarterbacks Brennan Armstrong and Bryce Perkins. In 2021, Armstrong totaled 4,449 passing yards with 31 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions. In 2019, Perkins threw for 3,538 yards 22 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions.
What To Expect From Jason Beck’s Offense?
Beck has a fairly diverse offense centered around the read-option and run-pass-option (RPO). There is quite a bit of creativity in the run game while also offering simplicity for quarterbacks and pass catchers in the passing game.
The read-option is the rushing attack’s foundation, which includes various looks and blocking schemes. There is standard inside zone and outside zone runs, as well as counter and power blocking schemes too. The Lobos were fairly balanced running the ball inside and out as well.
It is a spread passing game that utilizes motions and actually emphasizes throwing the ball down the field. Throwing behind the line of scrimmage is not a great priority, as that accounted for only 8.2% of all attempts. Instead, the passing game featured 41% of throws short (0-9), 27% to the intermediate (10-19), and 18% deep (20+).
One of Utah’s biggest issues this past season was scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Utah finished at No. 123 in the country in red zone touchdown conversation rate at 48%, while New Mexico finished drives in the end zone 69% of the time, good for No. 34 in the country.
It isn’t necessarily a high-tempo RPO offense, but New Mexico was still No. 24 in total plays this season (Utah finished No. 106).
