Michigan football set to hire Jason Beck as offensive coordinator

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ORLANDO, FL − Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham said his staff would quickly round into form during the broadcast of Michigan’s 41-27 loss to Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31, and he wasn’t kidding.

Less than 24 hours later, news broke that Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck is headed to Ann Arbor to work under the former Utah head man once again in the same capacity, Whittingham said on College GameDay. The move has been expected since shortly after Whittingham emerged as the guy on Dec. 26, but now is official.

Utah was No. 5 in the nation in scoring offense (41.4 points per game) and did one better in a 44-22 victory in the Las Vegas Bowl over Nebraska – a game that was supposed to be Whittingham’s last with the program before he instead said goodbye to his team and came to Florida to get a jumpstart on relationship building.

The Utes were No. 6 in the country with 478.6 yards per game, No. 2 in rushing offense with 269.8 rushing yards per game to go with 37 rushing touchdowns, and led the nation with 6.1 yards per carry. Whittingham told reporters after his introductory press conference U-M will be a power spread attack based out of 11 personnel. He can do exactly that with Beck, who runs a ton of run options and read-pass-options – something U-M QB Bryce Underwood really improved with as the 2025 season went on.

In a story with KSL.com earlier this year, Whittingham described how Beck liked to “pickle the defense.”

“Not only schematically within coverages, but by position — putting defensive ends, linebackers in situations where they can’t be right,” Whittingham said. “If they do one thing, we do this; and if they do the other thing, we do that. So that is a big part of it.

“Jason has a really good feel for getting the most out of his guys and putting them in positions where they can do the things they do best. Instead of asking the guy to do something that maybe is not his cup of tea, he does a great job of finding their role and maximizing that role.”

Beck spent one year in Salt Lake City after one season in New Mexico and two at Syracuse. He’s coached quarterbacks every year since 2013 including a seven-year stint in Virginia (2015-21) and three years at BYU (2013-15) before that.

Beck, 45, has a history of developing quarterbacks. Devon Dampier became the Big 12 Newcomer of the year this season after following Beck from New Mexico to Utah – he completed 212 of 334 passes (63.5%) for 2,490 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions. His QBR (84.4) was No. 7 in the nation while he also ran 146 times for 835 yards and 10 touchdowns.

On paper, much like the Whittingham hire is for Michigan, this seems like a very nice fit for Underwood and should help Michigan improve on offense dramatically – U-M was No. 58 in total offense (396.6 yards per game) in 2025 and No. 106 in the pass game (185.8).

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football set to hire Jason Beck as offensive coordinator

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