It's time for Carson Beck

Carson Beck sat in an Outback Steakhouse with some former high school coaches in the spring of 2022.

The Jacksonville native had just finished one of the most difficult years of his football career. Once presumed to be Georgia’s backup, Beck lived out a cruel college football reality as Stetson Bennett experienced his dream. Bennett started in place of Beck against UAB, took over for JT Daniels for good against Arkansas, and led Georgia to a national title.

The team’s success, of course, fulfilled one dream. But Beck hadn’t foreseen it playing out that way, with Bennett upstaging him as the backup.

“I can remember just talking to him. Carson, everything happens for a reason. Your time is going to come, just be patient, just trust it,” said Bernard Harold, the receivers coach at Beck’s alma mater of Mandarin High School. “He was really, really, really not in a good space.”

One year later, Beck’s opportunity is once and for all right in front of him.

Beck is battling Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton for Georgia’s starting quarterback job this spring. With his three years of experience in Athens, not to mention the live game reps he’s gotten the past two seasons, many once again see Beck as the favorite to win the job.

He’s dealt with doubters going back to his high school days. Similar questions have dogged him in Athens. Now, after years of waiting, Beck has his chance to prove he can also bring a title to Athens.

“It’s been a long three years,” Beck said. “I’d say the word that would describe it would just be patience.”

Harold used to work with Denny Thompson, the renowned quarterback trainer in Jacksonville. At one of Thompson’s camps, Harold encountered Beck for the first time in the spring of 2018.

Upon speaking with Beck and his father Chris, Harold discovered the talented signal caller needed a new home. Beck’s current school, Providence School in Jacksonville, had just played its final high school football season and would be shuttering the program.

Harold saw an opportunity for a sales pitch.

“Just the first thing he said was like, ‘I want to come to Mandarin, because I want to compete at the highest level,’” Harold said. “Providence was a 2A school, which is a smaller classification here in Jacksonville. He was like, man, I would love to play against the big schools, Raines and Riverside and Lee, get a chance to compete and play on that level.”

Beck’s sporting talents had mainly been focused on baseball to that point in his life. As a sophomore at Providence, he only played quarterback in a handful of games.

He wasted no time getting right to work. He joined a 7-on-7 team that featured most of Mandarin’s skill talent. The early returns came in glowing as the team won events across the country.

“When Carson came to them and started throwing the ball around, they were like, ‘Coach, this kid is different. He’s got to come to Mandarin, he’s got to come. If Carson comes to Mandarin, we’ll win the state championship,’” Harold said. “They were saying this in June when they were on the 7-on-7 circuit because they were doing just magical things.”

Those 7-on-7 performances, as well as camping at colleges, led to several offers. Beck committed to defending national champion Alabama toward the end of June.

But things didn’t stay ideal for long.

An extended illness kept Beck out of action for most of July. He then fell behind the team when practice started, having to go through the mandated acclimation period before going full-throttle. Further complicating matters, heavy rains forced some early Mandarin practices to be held in the school parking lot.

On-field adjustments had to be made as well. Former Mandarin head coach Bobby Ramsay recalled Beck taking too long to make a decision whether to run or pass in an early-season matchup with Godby. A defender chased Beck down and tackled him awkwardly, causing an injury that kept him out of the next game, a loss to Riverside.

With a 1-2 start and the district opener on deck, people inside and outside the Mandarin program still weren’t sold on Beck as the starter.

“You’ve got to think, he’s got all this attention on him coming to Mandarin with these receivers,” Harold said. “He didn’t play in the preseason classic and everybody was wondering, man, is this kid really that good? Who is this Carson Beck? Is he overhyped?”

In the first district game against DeLand, Mandarin trailed 21-17. Beck took over with around two minutes left to lead a game-winning drive in hostile territory.

“He led us on a textbook, I mean, it’s like a two-minute drill where you would go to a clinic and show it,” Ramsay said. “We won the game, threw a touchdown with maybe 12, 13 seconds left. From that point on, for the team that was a big moment, rounding the corner, whatever analogy you want to make.”

Beck’s trajectory turned upwards after that. He had a massive game against Raines the next week, albeit in a loss. Mandarin then beat Apopka, something that had never been done by a Duval County high school according to former Mandarin offensive coordinator and current head coach Toby Bullock.

Bullock and the offensive staff had embraced RPOs in the offseason. With Beck at the helm, Mandarin rode those plays to a first-place finish in the district.

“It really put a lot of ownership on Carson that, yeah, I gave him a play call, but he had three or four options on that play call,” Bullock said. “It’s almost like he was a co-OC in that situation because he’s the one distributing, he’s the point guard of the offense. He was just magnificent at it, he really was. He was just such a special player when it came to that stuff.”

Mandarin rolled in its first two playoff games. In the third round, the Mustangs won 19-7 over a Wekiva defense that featured five future Division I players (including Georgia linebacker Rian Davis) and that had allowed just 13 points total over the previous seven contests.

Those victories set the stage for two games that Ramsay called “the two most impressive performances I ever saw from a quarterback.”

In a semifinal victory over Riverview Sarasota, Beck completed 17-of-27 passes for 474 yards with three touchdowns. He followed that up by passing for 329 yards and five touchdowns on 25-of-36 passing in the state championship game against Columbus.

Highlights abound from those victories. Both Ramsay and Bullock recalled the same play.

Mandarin had the ball on the Columbus 28-yard line. Beck took the shotgun snap, rolled to his right, planted, and fired a shot down the sideline. The ball wizzed past the defender’s head and into the hands of receiver Demario Douglas for a touchdown. To this day, Ramsay is still convinced the defender had to be a hologram instead of flesh and blood. The pass is at :15 in this video.

“You couldn’t toss it underhand from three yards away and put it better,” Bullock said. “It’s like nothing I’d ever seen.”

The 2018 state championship gave Mandarin its first team title in school history. It all came on the shoulders of a quarterback who’d had a target on his back from day one.

Beck’s recruitment had exploded in June of 2018. Just weeks after being offered by the Crimson Tide, Beck committed to Nick Saban on June 26, 2018.

“With Alabama, it was just like so, really, Bama?” said Beth Pecarek, an academic advisor at Mandarin. “He’d just kind of give you that grin and give you that side grin. I’m like, okay, okay, I feel you there Carson.”

That commitment put plenty of eyes squarely on the new guy at Mandarin. The step up in competition also came with a huge spotlight on the Alabama commit tasked with making history at Mandarin.

As he worked his way into form throughout his junior season, Beck dealt with the expectations and pressure of one of the top players in the region.

Doubts crept into Beck’s mind during the slow start. Harold compared his leap in competition to going from high school to the SEC. Beck pondered whether he could actually do this before things did indeed turn the other way en route to a title.

In February 2019, Beck backed off his Alabama pledge. Florida became the favorite to keep the Jacksonville native home. A Georgia offer came around that time thanks to some connections on staff.

“From my understanding, a conversation [among UGA’s staff] last week went this way: Kirby Smart walked into an office and went, ‘Why in the hell have we not offered one of the best quarterbacks in the country (Beck)? What are we doing?’” Denny Thompson, Beck’s quarterback trainer, told UGASports in 2019. “At that point, [new Georgia assistants] Todd Hartley, who had previously been at Miami (Fla.), and Charlton Warren, who had been at Florida, got ahold of Carson.”

Beck visited Georgia the first weekend of March. The Bulldogs sold him on his fit in the offense. Georgia also presented an opportunity, with Jake Fromm entering his third (and eventually final) season as the starter, Beck saw a chance to play relatively early in his career.

“I asked Carson if he was sure he wanted to go to Georgia. He told me that is where he wanted to be,” Thompson told UGASports. “He wanted to win national championships and he felt like he could do it there.”

Beck exchanged the crimson and white target on his back for a red and black one. He bore that weight heading into a senior season filled with difficulties.

Mandarin had to replace most of its offensive talent from the state championship team. Beck also had obligations of a top-tier quarterback, such as the Elite 11 camp, that prevented him from building as much chemistry with his new teammates as he would have liked.

By that point, Beck’s fame had only grown. He had become one of the most recognizable faces in Jacksonville sports. Every game Mandarin played served as the Super Bowl for their opponents, with defenses saving their best wrinkles for the Mustangs and opposing fans riding him from the stands.

“He had a ton of attention on him, which was really difficult, something that you just don’t really get it until you’re in it,” Bullock said. “Everybody was wanting to see him throw a pick or throw this or throw that. When he threw a pick, if he threw one, it was magnified. You’ve got kids trying to keep the football, because of who he was and what he represented.”

Mandarin sputtered its way to a 3-3 start. At one point, Harold sat Beck down and told him he had nothing left to prove.

That conversation sparked a turnaround. Beck got off social media and finished the season strong. Mandarin finished the year 7-3 before bowing out in the first round to eventual state champion Seminole.

Weeks later, Beck found himself in Athens, ready to begin his college career. Unbeknownst to him, a three-year wait had just begun.

Georgia’s quarterback room looked to be wide-open when Beck arrived. Fromm had turned pro after 2019, leaving Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis as the main competition.

Then the Bulldogs added Jamie Newman via transfer from Wake Forest. JT Daniels later transferred in as well. Suddenly, Beck’s possible road to playing time had been imploded.

“The guy from Wake Forest, [Carson] didn’t have any idea that kid was coming,” Harold said. “Then they went and got Daniels. He was really, really, really in a bad place, because he was like, Coach, I don’t know, do they really want me here? You’ve got to think, the OC who kind of recruited him (James Coley) had left.”

Harold had a trick up his sleeve to help Beck through his freshman campaign.

Thompson had also trained Mac Jones, who at the time had taken over as Alabama’s starter. Harold had Jones reach out to Beck to share his experiences of waiting behind Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, biding his time for one season as the starter in 2020.

Beck redshirted during Georgia’s 8-2 campaign in 2020. Daniels looked to be entrenched as the starter heading into 2021. In fall camp, Smart announced Beck as the team’s backup.

When Daniels suffered an oblique injury and looked to be doubtful to play in week two against UAB, all signs pointed to Beck getting his first collegiate start.

“Carson’s been our No. 2 quarterback. He’s worked with the twos. He’s worked a lot there and taken a lot of reps,” Smart said on Sept. 7, the Tuesday before the UAB game. “Stetson still gets some reps from time to time, but he’s got a lot of banked reps. We ask him to do a lot of things mentally to be prepared and ready to go.”

Reporters began reaching out to Mandarin coaches for background on Beck. After a freshman year spent riding the pine, Beck finally had his chance. Until he didn’t.

Things went sideways during that week of practice. Beck struggled with the first team. UGASports reported that it would be Bennett, not Beck, starting on Saturday. That proved to be true, as Bennett started against UAB and had a fantastic game.

Harold said that decision “devastated” Beck. The chance he’d waited so long for had tumbled through his fingertips like water from the St. Johns River that flows through his hometown.

That hit to the confidence seemed to carry throughout the season. Beck didn’t play particularly well when he did get in during garbage time. He finished the year 10-of-23 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The lowlight came in that game against UAB, when Beck threw a pick-six in the closing minutes.

It all led to that dinner with his coaches last spring. Beck had a national title ring on his finger, but he had been usurped by Bennett. With Bennett’s announcement of a return for 2022, Beck once again faced another year as the program’s backup.

That raises the question: why didn’t he transfer? It’s so easy to do in college football now, especially for a talented quarterback. Many programs across the country would have welcomed Beck with open arms, yet he stayed in Athens.

According to those who know him best, there are several reasons he stayed.

Everyone says Beck has been in love with the University of Georgia and the city of Athens since that visit that earned his commitment. Ramsay said he always tells his players to choose a school that, first and foremost, they enjoy attending.

“The football is going to be hard,” Ramsay said. “The football’s going to be frustrating at times. You’re going to have days where you leave the facility pissed off because you maybe didn’t get the reps you wanted or the coach got on you or this or that. You need to be going back to an apartment or dorm or place where you really feel happy. If you’re going back to a place you don’t like and you’re leaving a tough situation, you’re going to leave.”

By last spring, Beck had also spent two years learning the ins and outs of Todd Monken’s offense. There’s also the matter of winning. After a national title, going anywhere besides Athens would have felt like a step down.

Finally, Beck took solace in Mac Jones’ story. Jones, of course, led Alabama to a national title before being drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Beck’s low point that spring coincided with Jones wrapping up his first season starting in New England, leading the Patriots to the playoffs.

“I think every player, when they’re young and immature, they’re like, oh, I’m going to leave, blah blah blah,” Beck said. “But never did I ever think like, yo, I’m going to get out of here. Like I said, I love the University of Georgia. That’s kind of why I’ve stayed in place.”

Beck entrenched himself as the team’s backup in 2022. In his plentiful mop-up opportunities, he appeared to be much more comfortable running the team’s offense. He finished the season 26-of-35 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

During Georgia’s off week, Beck returned to Jacksonville. He once again had dinner with some of his former coaches, including Bullock.

That night, Bullock said Beck seemed more mature and driven than he had ever been. Seeing his former quarterback that way put tears in Bullock’s eyes.

“I thought he had finally taken his last hurdle that he needed to be a great college quarterback,” Bullock said. “His mental game was extremely strong. His understanding, his desire, where he wanted to be, it seems very strong. He just seemed different. He seemed ultra-focused. When you’re a competitor and you know what you want and you can see that goal, it can lock you in. I think that’s where he’s at. He knows he wants to be the starting quarterback at the University of Georgia. When you know that, you can block off all the other bullshit and really get after what you need to get after.”

Each of Beck’s three seasons has seen him kept mainly on the bench for one reason or another. A freshman with more experience in front of him on the depth chart; the staff turning to a player they trusted more; a Georgia legend who wouldn’t be unseated as he chased another title. Each describes one of Beck’s years at Georgia.

Now, once and for all, Beck has his opportunity right in front of him.

He feels he has grown the most with his mental understanding of the game over the past three years. Beck has always had physical gifts. Now he also has the confidence to go with it. The past has shown that once Beck quiets the outside noise and believes in himself, good things happen.

Harold spoke with Beck about a week before spring practice began this March. He said he had never seen Beck so determined.

“He was like, Coach, I’m telling you, I’m shutting everything down,” Harold said. “I’m not even talking to my dad, I’m not talking to my mom, I’m not talking to my girlfriend. I’m locked in on this job, right now. I’m focused and I’m locked in.”

To be sure, the quarterback battle will not be won on seniority alone. Beck, Vandagriff, or Stockton could wind up starting for the Bulldogs this season. Each has had good and bad moments through the first two weeks of spring practice.

“The things that he’s shown me are the things that he’s kind of shown me the past years that we’ve been here,” said running back Kendall Milton, who came in with Beck in the Class of 2020. “I’ve always known that he was a really smart player. I’ve seen him be able to dissect the offense and kind of know everybody’s job, being able to break it down to a receiver, a certain break in their routes, or footwork of a running back. I’m definitely excited to play with Carson, because I know that he knows the offense in and out.”

Beck stayed for this moment, for the opportunity to start at quarterback for the University of Georgia. He will have to earn it, but he’s never had a better opening than now.

In Brian Rado’s office at Mandarin, a picture hangs on the wall. It depicts Rado, the school’s athletic director, being lifted up by Beck after Mandarin’s 2018 state championship.

Pecarek believes Beck thrives on lifting people and teams up. He now has the chance to lead Georgia to a historic three-peat in 2023.

And if he does end up under center for the Bulldogs this fall?

“I probably shouldn’t say hell yeah, but hell yeah,” Pecarek said. “What I would say seeing that, I would say, I mean, God. Heck yeah. You put that work in and you know the system and you know the expectations. I’ll just be so happy for him knowing that that’s the dream.”