JACKSONVILLE, Florida - Since announcing his commitment to Georgia, Carson Beck has been a keystone commit. The four-star signal caller has spent his time recruiting other prospects on behalf of the Bulldogs, while simultaneously ignoring the pitches of other schools.

Beck has also had an affection for Georgia since well before his commitment, making him seem like a natural fit with the Bulldogs and their search for a 2020 target.

But the nation's No. 83 overall player admits it looked as though it'd be a far cry from how things have turned out, and not all that long ago—especially when the staff came by Beck's Mandarin High School without an offer, only to go to nearby Sandalwood High and offer future Florida State commit Jeff Sims.

"This past summer was when I didn't get an offer from them, when I was going from sophomore to junior year, I was, like, really disappointed. Why didn't I get an offer? I felt like I did a really good job, but they also said it was more of a [Jim] Chaney thing, not [Coley]—not like them as a staff, but more like Chaney liking other guys everywhere else."

That's because Chaney had a differing ideal on where the Bulldogs were headed from an offensive standpoint.

"What they explained to me about that, because we actually talked to them about that—I was like, 'Why offer me now if you didn't offer me then?' At that day and time, they said they were looking for more of a dual threat-type of quarterback, because they wanted that Justin Fields transition. It would be Jake Fromm, Justin Fields, and then, as you would see with Dwan Mathis and other dual-threat quarterbacks, they kind of wanted to go with that side of things. That's kind of what they explained to me."

For Beck and Georgia, that all changed when Mel Tucker and Chaney moved on.

"At the end of the day, I think, once they kind of got everything together with [James] Coley being the new OC, and then bringing [Todd] Hartley in—Hartley was super high on me. Then Coach [Charlton] Warren, even though he's on the defensive side from Florida, he was super high on me, because he was there already recruiting from Florida, and then Coach [Shawn] Watson, who was from Pitt," Beck said. "So when they all got together and they all sat down, they were like, 'We need a 2020 quarterback,' and Hartley, Warren, and Watson, all the new guys, were like, 'Carson Beck, you need to look at this kid right now.'"

That put the wheels in motion ahead of Beck's trip to Athens earlier this year.

"They all sat together and watched my film and picked out, not just my highlight film, but picked out different plays from all my games. Whenever I went up there, actually, we ended up watching three different games [of mine]," Beck said. "I think it was the state championship, one of the early playoff games, and one of the games in the middle. I think it was Apopka we played, that they had film from every single one of those games, and I was like, 'I'm not going to ask where you got all this film.'"

"They sat me down, and they said, 'We all came together, and we think you're the best quarterback in the country. Although we were going through a transition, we sat down and said, 'Who is the best guy we can get, who is similar to the guy we have right now, and who can take us where we want to go?'" Beck said. "That makes me feel really good about myself, but I still have so much more to prove, I feel like, not only to them but to everybody. So, that's where that happened."

It was what the rising senior had hoped to hear all along.

"In my head, I knew that for a long time, I wanted to be at Georgia and go to Georgia. That was the first school I really visited, saw, and went to a game for, and I just thought the atmosphere of the place and obviously the facilities are amazing. Regardless of that, I think the biggest thing with Georgia was I could see myself going there if football was not an option," Beck said. "And I feel like that was probably the biggest thing with any school that I was going to pick. I feel like, back when I committed to Alabama, I kind of like, jumped on the hype train almost, a little bit. And I felt like I realized that as I grew and I started to mature, but I was so young, I was like, I was against Alabama. I was like, 'Oh, my gosh.'"

That set up the fateful visit that would lead to the quick commitment.

"I wanted to see what they were about, and I wanted them to want me as much I wanted to be there. Like that kind of thing. I feel like within the first 30 minutes, I was absolutely sold," he said.

It was something Beck had long considered, however, thanks in large part to the influence of a couple of former Bulldogs and supporters he was close to.

"Our OC and quarterback coach at [Beck's former high school] Providence played quarterback at Georgia. His name was Blake Barnes. So he played there, and then our defensive line coach at Providence, he played at Georgia back in 1980 when they won the national championship. He was a defensive tackle. And then, our head coach was also a huge Georgia guy. He actually played at Southern Cal, and then played in a league for a few years. But he was a huge Georgia guy, so that was how I got introduced to Georgia—all three of them are always talking about Georgia," Beck said. "I was like, I need to go see the place for myself. You guys are always talking up how good it is. So the head coach—his son was also in my grade, so we were really good friends—we went up to a game. I forget what year it was, but they were playing South Carolina, and I got to meet all the coaches."

At that point, Beck felt the love his former mentors had for the Bulldogs.

"Obviously I was not a super-big recruit, because I hadn't played yet. I really hadn't shown I had any film, but we went up there and I just absolutely loved the atmosphere," he said. "And then, I feel like from that point on, that's when I really wanted an offer from them."