Michigan offensive coordinator Jason Beck breaks down his philosophy: 'We'll adapt to the people we have ... be versatile'

Michigan Wolverines football offensive coordinator Jason Beck has hit the ground running, helping the staff retain and recruit players in the first month-plus on the job under head coach Kyle Whittingham.

The 45-year-old Beck has spent the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Syracuse (2023), New Mexico (2024) and Utah (2025), so he’s no stranger to implementing his offense to a new group of players.

Beck and Co. will begin the installation process during Michigan’s spring practices, which begin March 17 and will conclude with an April 18 spring game, but the overarching philosophy will be fleshed out as the offseason progresses and the players and coaches become more familiar with each other.

“We want to install kind of a base of what we’re going to do, what we’ve had success with, what’s been good for us,” Beck said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast. “But we’re very much driven by the personnel, and so we’ll adapt the offense to the people we have and what they do well. So, we’ll be versatile that way.

“Personnel — will we be more 12, more 11, more 10? That will totally be driven by the players in the program and who gives you the best chance to score points, to win games.

“But a lot of it is driven by the quarterback. What does the quarterback do well? And we want to build the offense to his strengths and his talents. That can look different based off of who the quarterback is and what they do well. 

“After that, we want to look at the O-line. What can the O-line do? There’s no sense of doing stuff if the O-line can’t block it up at a high level, so we look at what the O-line can do. After that, it’s all the skill guys we’re putting out there with them. It’s molding the offense to that.

“At first, it’s kind of putting in the base stuff, evaluating to see who’s emerging, see what guys are doing really well and then start building the offense toward those strengths and those capabilities.”

Last season, Utah led the nation with 6.02 yards per rush, ahead of No. 2 Navy (5.76). The Utes weren’t as efficient through the air, averaging 7.5 yards per attempt (54th), but checked in No. 4 in the country in both scoring and total offense.

Beck understands the importance of a strong run game, even if the passing attack will have to take a step forward with quarterback Bryce Underwood in his second season as the starter.

“You have to be able to run the ball and be physical and be able to attack teams that way,” Beck said. “Having said that, now you also want to be able to throw it and be balanced, be dynamic, really attack teams. That thing will ebb and flow. I’ve been a part of really throwing the ball at a high level and then like this last year, we’re running it at a really high level and just throwing it efficiently enough.

“So, that will kind of play out as the players and the personnel show what they’re capable of and how we build this thing. But there’s no doubt, it’s always going to start with being physical, being able to run the ball, because any time you can out-rush the other team, you’ve got a great chance to win the game. Now, you’ve got to be balanced enough and dynamic enough doing both — but you’ve got to be physical and be able to run the ball.”

Utah, which finished the season with 11 wins, took on two Big Ten teams in 2025, blowing out UCLA, 43-10, in the season opener and blasting Nebraska, 44-22, in the Las Vegas Bowl on New Year’s Eve. He’s also been a coordinator in the ACC and Big 12, so he knows the differences in style of play.

“We played a couple Big Ten teams this past year, with UCLA — it’s hard to even think of them as Big Ten, but it is now, still getting used to that — and then we played Nebraska in the bowl game,” the Michigan coach said. “And then over the years, playing different Big Ten teams. It’s usually pretty big and physical, especially up front. A lot of the other things are kind of similar, but the size and the physicality in the trenches is something that is a little more unique to the Big Ten than the Big 12 and the ACC.

“So, yeah, I know there’s that style of football up front, especially when the weather’s bad and you kind of have to lean on those things and count on those guys to dictate the game.”