CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During an ACC Network appearance, former Georgia and Miami coach Mark Richt poked fun at former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck for the $4 million-plus NIL package he is reportedly set to make this season at Miami.
“You were at Georgia and went to Miami, I was at Georgia went to Miami, the only difference is you got paid more than I did,” Richt said.
Beck threw his head back and laughed, saying, “I don’t know about that.”
“If you go year by year you got me by about a million,” Richt said.
Richt’s salary with the Hurricanes, where he finished his College Football Hall of Fame career from 2016-18 after leading UGA for 15 years, was reportedly $4 million a year.
Richt, while coaching at Miami, was one of the first coaches recruiting Beck, who was then a sophomore in high school in Jacksonville. Current Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said he felt the transfer was a “full circle” moment for the player and school.
Beck, a two-year starter for the Bulldogs who amassed a 24-3 record, is clearly eager to have a fresh start and make the most of a new opportunity.
Beck also recognized the need for closure at the ACC Media Days and openly shared his respect for Kirby Smart and the program throughout more than an hour of interviews with most questions centered around his time in Athens, more so than his future in Miami.
“It was very difficult. It was never a plan for me to leave Georgia and go elsewhere. My plan was to spend my career and time at Georgia and ultimately go to the NFL,” Beck said. “But it’s the way the cards played out and the hand I was dealt with the injury.
“Being there for five years, I am so thankful for the experience of getting to play for a coach like Coach Smart.”
Beck had much to say about his ups and downs at Georgia, and shared the key moment that helped him turn things around with the win over Tennessee in the exclusive interview he did with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Beck also told an ACC Media Days room full of reporters about the game-winning play against Texas in the SEC title matchup when he entered back into the game after suffering the elbow injury that ultimately ended his UGA career.
“I probably shouldn’t have even had pads on still with the level of the injury; at the time, we didn’t know what it was. We thought maybe it was a sprain and it was going to be fine,” Beck said of the UCL elbow injury. “We’re on the sideline and I had the earpiece in listening to the plays and trying to dissect what the defense would do.
“(Quarterback) Gunner (Stockton) gets knocked down, and he’s coming off the field and Coach Smart is yelling, ‘Carson, Carson,’ and he’s yelling for me, and thank God my helmet was on the sideline. He’s like, ‘Can you take a snap?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, I’ll try. Let me try.’”
Stockton had carried the ball 8 yards to the Texas 4-yard-line on a second-and-8 to pick up a first down before taking a hit that knocked him out, leading to Beck returning to the game.
“So Jared Wilson comes running over and I take like three snaps, and my arm is stuck in position, but I was like, I can take a snap and hand it off,” Beck said. “So they give me the play call, and I’m running out on the field and I’m thinking to myself, wait, I have to hand this off with my right arm, I’m really hoping I get this done.
“I go into the huddle and everyone looks at me like, ‘What the hell are you doing in the game, you’ve been out?’ And I’m like ‘I don’t know, but can we get this done right here and now and get this thing in the end zone?’ So I take the snap and hand it off, all short-armed and (running back) Trevor (Etienne) gets into the end zone and we win the game, and people are jumping on me.
It was a really cool moment to be my last play for Georgia and not the injury be the last play.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
