Utah Hires Jason Beck As Offensive Coordinator

The University of Utah announced Thursday night that Jason Beck has been hired as the team’s new offensive coordinator.

Beck comes to Utah after spending the 2024 season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at New Mexico. During his tenure, the Lobos led the Mountain West Conference in total offense with an average of 484.3 yards per game. New Mexico also finished at the top of the conference in red zone offense and first downs (298), while ranking second in rushing offense with 253.6 yards per game.

Before his time at New Mexico, Beck spent two seasons as Syracuse’s quarterbacks coach, where he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023. His coaching career includes a six-year stint as a quarterbacks coach under Bronco Mendenhall at Virginia, as well as three years in the same role at BYU. Beck, who was a backup quarterback at BYU from 2004 to 2006, is now set to bring his expertise to Utah. According to multiple sources, Mendenhall is expected to leave New Mexico for the head coach position at Utah State.

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The hiring of Beck comes after Utah’s search for a new offensive coordinator saw interest in candidates like Ben Arbuckle and Mack Leftwich, both of whom interviewed for the role before accepting positions at Oklahoma and Texas Tech, respectively.

Beck’s primary challenge will be to reignite a Utah offense that struggled in 2024, contributing to a 5-7 record and the Utes’ failure to reach a bowl game for the first time since 2013. Utah finished the season ranked 14th in the Big 12 for scoring offense (23.6 points per game) and 15th in total offense (329.8 yards per game).

The position became vacant when longtime offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig stepped down amid offensive struggles. Offensive analyst Mike Bajakian took over as interim offensive coordinator, but there was little improvement in the Utes’ offensive production following the change.

Jason Beck

The former BYU quarterback brings with him 16 years of FBS coaching experience.

Prior to his time in Albuquerque this past year, Beck spent two seasons (2022-23) at Syracuse, serving as the quarterbacks coach both years while also getting promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023.

During his time in charge of the quarterbacks in 2022, he saw Syracuse’s passing efficiency rating upgrade from 108th in the FBS in 2021 to 40th nationally and fourth in the ACC in one season. The Orange also finished the 2022 season ranked No. 2 in the ACC in red zone offense and seventh in passing offense.

Before leading the Orange quarterback room, Beck coached the QBs at Virginia from 2016-21. The Cavaliers only had three quarterbacks throw for 20+ touchdowns in multiple seasons with all six of those campaigns coinciding with Beck’s tenure, becoming integral in Virginia becoming bowl-eligible in his last five seasons.

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His quarterback, Bryce Perkins, graduated as the program’s career record holder at the time in total offense (7,910) in just two seasons, also ranking first in single-season and single-game total offense. That season, Perkins ranked No. 6 nationally and No. 1 in the ACC in total offense (4,307), setting the single-season passing record at UVA with 3,538 yards in 2019.

He also coached Brennan Armstrong and Kurt Benkert during his time at Virginia, seeing Armstrong lead the Cavaliers to a No. 2 ranking in the FBS in passing offense in 2021. Benkert finished with a two-year career at Virginia with 5,759 passing yards and 46 career touchdowns.

Beck’s first full-time FBS coaching job was at his alma mater, BYU, from 2013-15, where he coached the quarterbacks – specifically Taysom Hill. In 2015, he also coached freshman Tanner Magnum to be the nation’s only freshman quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards and post a completion percentage above 60-percent.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because it is as Beck played quarterback at BYU from 2004-06 after transferring from College of the Canyons (2003) and Ventura College (2002). He earned his degree from BYU in 2006 in communications and received his Master’s degree in 2011.