Jason Beck

Jason Beck joined the Lobo Football program in February of 2024, and he serves as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for UNM. He comes to New Mexico after a two-year stint at Syracuse.

Over his 10 seasons as a quarterbacks coach at the FBS level, Beck’s protégées have averaged 3,300 passing yards and 509 rushing yards, for an average of 3,809 yards of total offense per season. Beck has a proven track record of developing quarterback talent for the next level. Three of his prior quarterbacks were on active NFL rosters in 2023.

The 2024 season will be his 11th working with Mendenhall.

PREVIOUS COACHING STOPS

SYRACUSE (2022-23): Beck served two seasons with the Orange as quarterbacks coach, and in 2023 he also served as offensive coordinator. In his lone season as the program’s OC, Beck’s unit creatively navigated injuries to crucial areas, picking up a pair of late-season victories to secure a second-straight bowl berth by utilizing a converted tight end to throw the majority of passes and a run-focused attack to reach the postseason.

After a 4-0 start that saw QB Garrett Shrader get added to the Davey O’Brien Watch List, injuries hampered the passing attack down the stretch, forcing a shift in philosophy. Running back LeQuint Allen crossed the 1,000-yard threshold, marking the third-straight season a Syracuse back had gone past quadruple digits.

The multi-look offense set the program’s single-game record for total offense (677 yards) in the season opener and scored nine touchdowns. Ten weeks later, his offense mustered the most yards on the ground by an Orange squad since 1996 (392 yards).

Beck coached the quarterbacks in 2022 and oversaw Syracuse’s passing efficiency rating upgrade from 108th in the FBS in 2021, to 45th nationally and fourth in the ACC in one season. The Orange also improved to eighth in the ACC in total offense (from 10th), seventh in passing offense (from 14th), second in red zone offense (from 13th), and seventh in scoring offense (from 10th) in his first season with the Orange.

VIRGINIA (2016-21): Beck spent six seasons with the Virginia Cavaliers, serving as quarterbacks coach for all six.  There, his charges had tremendous success.

At Virginia, Beck’s quarterback Bryce Perkins graduated as the program’s career record holder at the time for total offense (7,910) after playing only two seasons in Charlottesville (2018-19). Under Beck, Perkins also claimed the top two spots in the Cavalier record book for single-season and single-game total offense, until both were surpassed by Brennan Armstrong in 2021. Perkins’ total offense number (4,307) in 2019 ranked No. 6 nationally and No. 1 in the ACC. Perkins also set the single-season passing record at UVA with 3,538 passing yards in 2019, which ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 3 in the ACC. Perkins is currently on the LA Rams roster.

In 2021, Beck’s student Armstrong helped UVA rank second in the nation in passing offense. The 2021 Cavaliers’ offense ranked near the top of the FBS in several different national statistics, including passing offense (2nd/392.6), total offense (3rd/515.8), first downs (11th/318), 3rd down conversions (15th/.459) and scoring offense (22nd/34.6).

Beck also coached eventual NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert, who has spent time with the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers. Benkert finished a two-year career at Virginia with 5,759 passing yards and 46 career touchdowns.

Virginia has only had three quarterbacks throw for 20+ touchdowns in multiple seasons. All six of those campaigns coincided with Beck’s tenure at Virginia with Armstrong (2020-21), Perkins (2018-19), and Benkert (2016-17) accomplishing the feat. At Virginia, he helped UVA become bowl eligible in his last five seasons there, including an ACC Coastal Division Championship in 2019 and a trip to the Orange Bowl.

BYU (2013-15): Beck spent three seasons at his alma mater, coaching quarterbacks at BYU from 2013-15 where he tutored current New Orleans Saints all-everything tight end/quarterback/receiver Taysom Hill. In 2015, after Hill suffered a season-ending injury, Beck 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 north of 60 percent. That came on the heels of another year where Hill’s season was cut short in 2014. Beck helped BYU successfully navigate the final seven games of the regular season without the star QB. Hill and Christian Stewart combined for 3,623 yards and 32 touchdowns, including 25 TDs by Stewart. As a sophomore quarterback in 2013, Hill passed for 2,938 yards and 19 TDs, while also rushing for 1,344 yards and 10 TDs under Beck’s tutelage.

SIMON FRASER (2012): Beck spent the 2012 season as the offensive coordinator at Simon Fraser, the only Division II school located in Canada. Beck turned an offense that ranked last in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in total offense, passing offense, and scoring offense in 2011 into the league’s No. 1-rated attack in all three categories during the program’s first year as a full NCAA Division II member in 2012.

WEBER STATE (2009-11):  Beck served as quarterbacks coach at Weber State from 2009-2011. Under his guidance, quarterback Cameron Higgins set school records for most career passing yards (12,274), most career touchdowns passes (98), most career total touchdowns (105), most career pass completions (935), and career passing efficiency rating (144.5). Higgins completed his career as one of the most prolific players in Big Sky Conference history.

LSU (2008): Beck spent the 2008 season on Les Miles’ staff at LSU as an offensive intern.

BYU (2007):  Beck spent the 2007 season as an offensive intern on Bronco Mendenhall’s staff at BYU.

PLAYING CAREER: BYU (2004-06), College of the Canyons (2003), Ventura College (2002):  As a player, Beck spent three seasons at BYU after one-year stops at College of the Canyons and Ventura College as a quarterback. He spent much of his time at BYU as a backup, but totaled 553 yards through the air in his career, including 305 yards on 20-of-28 passing in his lone start, a 38-0 victory over Utah State his senior season. At College of the Canyons, he led the Cougars to an 11-1 record and No. 4 ranking nationally among junior colleges.

Beck earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications from BYU in 2006 and 2011. He is married to former BYU soccer standout Jaime Rendich, and they have a daughter, Peyton, and twin sons, Cameron and Jackson.