CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carson Beck swears he wore the Miami-green suit for a game with Georgia last season.
He put it back on for the ACC Kickoff on Tuesday. Beck flashed with a black T-shirt, gold chain and watch; just enough drip to stand out as the most interesting transfer quarterback in the ACC in 2025. Beck’s fit was right, but will he be the right fit at quarterback for Miami after spending the last five seasons at Georgia?
Beck finished 24-3 as a starter with the Bulldogs the last two seasons after replacing Stetson Bennett. Now, he replaces Cam Ward – who led Miami to a 10-win season, finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That is the pressure system building up with the Hurricanes.
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“I feel like there is pressure everywhere,” Beck said. “Asked the question, yes there is pressure. Do I feel that pressure? No, I don’t. Having played at Georgia and having followed a two-time national champion, that’s probably the most pressure you could possibly have. The SEC schools — those fan-bases are insane.”
Beck seemed poised and at ease – even appreciative – when talking about his time at Georgia. Now, the challenge is to take that big-game experience to Miami – a school that has still yet to win an ACC championship or make the College Football Playoff.
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Carson Beck opens up about Georgia transfer Beck’s last play at Georgia is an all-timer. Backup quarterback Gunner Stockton was down on the turf after a scramble to the 4-yard line. Georgia coach Kirby Smart was screaming, “Carson! Carson!” Smart wanted to know if Beck – who left the SEC championship game against Texas with an elbow injury – could complete a hand-off. Beck’s answer was lukewarm: “I don’t know.”
“Everyone in the huddle looked at me and was like, ‘What the hell are you doing in here?” Beck said. “And I said, ‘Can we get this done right here and now?'”
Beck short-armed a hand-off to running back Trevor Etienne, who scored on a 4-yard touchdown for a 22-19 victory against Texas.
“That was a really cool moment to be my last play for Georgia with the injury,” Beck said. “That was a full circle.”
Beck did not sound bitter about the Georgia departure after five years. He agonized over missing the Sugar Bowl matchup against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. He thanked Smart multiple times during his breakout session.
Beck played in two SEC championships – winning one – and the only SEC school that beat Georgia in that stretch was Alabama. Beck’s tenure with the Bulldogs fell short of a national championship, however, and that transfer process was tough.
“Very difficult,” Beck said. “It was never a plan for me to leave Georgia and go elsewhere. My plan, obviously, was to spend my career and time at Georgia and ultimately go to the NFL.”
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Why Carson Beck fits at Miami Miami coach Mario Cristobal watches more than enough “overlap tape” during the season. He knew Beck had the talent to start at Miami. Yet when the conversations started with offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and Beck, Cristobal focused on something else.
“You always want to know, ‘Do you want to just improve yourself or do you want to be part of a great team?” Cristobal said. “They need to go hand to hand.”
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Beck also was recovering from an ulnar repair on his left elbow – which he clarified was not a reconstruction. Despite the inability to participate in spring practice, there was a match at Miami.
“We felt that what he does and does really well marries up to how we block it, what we call, the concepts that go with it, complemented with the running game and what we feel is a significantly improved defense,” Cristobal said.
Beck, of course, has to follow Ward – who passed for 4,313 yards, 39 TDs and seven interceptions. Ward put Miami on the fringe of the ACC championship and College Football Playoff conversation, won the Manning Award and was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Cristobal isn’t looking to compare Beck to Ward or any other quarterback.
“When we had Justin Herbert out west (at Oregon), we didn’t look for the next Justin Herbert,” Cristobal said. “We were looking for the first Cam Ward, and now we’re looking for the first and best version of Carson Beck,” Cristobal said.
“He has played in monster games, and he has played at a high level,” Cristobal said.
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Carson Beck, Miami feel like a solid match This is a prove-it year for Beck – who ranked No. 1 in Sporting News top 25 quarterbacks for 2024 and now is at No. 13 in 2025. Beck was 5-1 against ranked teams in 2023 and 4-2 against ranked teams in 2024.
He has a combined 5-2 record against top-10 teams in that stretch.
Miami is 1-6 against ranked teams and 0-3 against top-10 teams under Cristobal last three seasons heading into the home opener against Notre Dame – where Beck will be the most-interesting attraction. How will Beck’s talents translate from the SEC to the ACC? Don’t ask him.
“I don’t think it’s as much of an ACC versus SEC thing,” Beck said. “I think it’s just a team to team thing. South Carolina is going to look different than Duke, as Wake Forest is going to look different than Washington State or Oregon. I’m just naming random teams now.”
Yet Beck has brought some of that Georgia mindset to Miami. Hurricanes tackle Francis Mauigoa – a potential top-five pick in next year’s draft – calls it the “Georgia mentality.”
“He talks mostly about the mentality over there at Georgia,” Mauigoa said. “It’s kind of similar to the one we have in Miami. It’s just … A walk-through is not just a walk-through any more.”
Cristobal noticed that intensity, too.
“He is really, really smart and communicates really, really well,” Cristobal said. “That was the part that hit you the hardest initially. ‘Wow, this is a really high-level football IQ.”
Beck offers a refreshing take on the quarterback transfer carousel. This might work out for Georgia and Miami in 2025. Aside from the Miami traffic, which Beck said is “the worst experience of his life” – this feels like a similar fit to Georgia. Beck knows how to win. He is 100%, cleared and ready for that opportunity.
“As a quarterback, the OC, the scheme, the talent and guys that you’re going to have around you is huge to the success and ultimately the future of the quarterback, and of me,” Beck said. “This is my future, and I think that this decision is one of the better decisions I’ve made.”
