Carson Beck clears air on alleged ‘bad blood’ with Georgia, explains transfer

INDIANAPOLIS — Carson Beck opened his podium interview at the NFL combine on Friday talking football, but the talk quickly turned to the transfer drama left in his wake.

Beck, who left Georgia after the 2024 season and transferred to Miami, took advantage of the opportunity to clear the air.

“There’s no bad blood, I’m not sure where that came from, but I love the University of Georgia,” said Beck, who holds a degree from UGA and will work out at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I didn’t know I’d get injured at the end of the season, I didn’t know that I was going to end up coming back to college for another year, that was never the plan.”

The plan changed quickly after Beck suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) on the final play of the first half against Texas in the 2024 SEC championship game.

Beck originally declared himself eligible for the 2025 NFL draft before deciding to play another season of college football to ensure a full recovery and optimize his draft stock while landing a rich NIL deal.

“It’s like, Gunner (Stockton) is next up, that’s the thing, it’s his turn to be the quarterback at the University of Georgia,” Beck said. “So when I had decided to not go to the NFL and come back, I was going to go somewhere else. That’s how it all worked out.”

Dillon Bell and Colbie Young, two of Beck’s former teammates present at the NFL Combine on Friday, shared their thoughts on the former Georgia quarterback.

“I don’t care what they say about Carson, he’s that dude, and I’m going to always and forever stand by that — that’s one of my best friends,” Bell said. “He’s very smart, he’s a real floor general. He can lead a team. He’s an NFL-ready quarterback.

“I’ve been with him three years, so I see how he is on the field and off the field. He’s ready.”

Young, who transferred from Miami to Georgia in the 2024 offseason, shared how Beck — quite literally — invested in his teammates.

“Carson’s an amazing guy. He flew us all out to Jacksonville to train in May (of 2024),” Young said. “Just an amazing guy who really wants to play the game of football. He’s a winner at heart, just hadn’t had the best opportunity when he was here (at UGA), but he showed it when he was at Miami.”

Beck was 24-3 as Georgia’s starting quarterback, including playing the first half and final play of the 2024 SEC championship game victory over Texas.

Beck, in one season at Miami was 13-3 and led the Hurricanes to wins over Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss en route to the CFP Championship game, where they were bested by Indiana, 27-21.

“I think it worked out awesome for everybody, for Georgia and for Miami,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think watching him trot in the end zone in the Fiesta Bowl to launch us into an opportunity for the national title was validation of so many things.

“Carson played such a heavy hand in that, and he helped galvanize the team. Just an elite human being, hard worker and competitor. I can’t say enough great things about him. I can’t wait to watch him play on Sundays.”

And yet, there was little to no talk from Beck about his most recent college football accomplishments at the NFL combine — it was putting his six-year football journey into perspective.

“It’s been a super cool journey … It feels like I was in college forever, but everyone’s path is different,” Beck said. “I’m truly blessed and grateful that my path went the way it did. It’s a lot easier to say that looking back at it now.”

No doubt, Beck sat on the bench for three seasons at UGA before earning the starting job in an era where most other highly ranked quarterbacks were transferring out to play immediately.

Beck said he knew he needed to grow up and mature while with the Bulldogs.

“I was an 18-year-old kid and wanted to play early, I knew nothing, I was a child,” Beck said of the start of his career at UGA. “I’m grateful to coach (Kirby) Smart and what he was able to instill in me and the teams that I was a part of, and some of the guys I got to play with.

“You go look at the NFL and these rosters are full of guys from those (Georgia) teams from 2020 to 2024. So again, the discipline, the structure, the resiliency, the toughness that Coach Smart was able to instill in me personally is something I’ll take on the rest of my life.”

When asked what he was most proud of in his career, Beck had plenty of victories and great plays to point to among the 43 games he started — but he went in another direction.

“Most proud of? Coming back from the surgery was something I’m proud of,” Beck said of the elbow surgery that sidelined him throughout spring drills at Miami.

“The whole rehab process was a really hard journey; it was a hard thing for me mentally and physically, not knowing if I’d have the opportunity to play quarterback at the level that I had.”

Beck said that’s what he meant when he famously spoke of falling in love with the game of football.

There had been plenty of speculation that his words were aimed at his experience at Georgia, but Beck’s interview on Friday suggested quite the opposite.

Beck, in fact, openly said how much he would welcome the opportunity to reunite with former UGA offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who’s now the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

“I had Coach Monken my first three years at Georgia, and I love him, personally,” Beck said, sharing how he played baseball with Monken’s son and got to know his future offensive coordinator when he was coaching receivers with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I really enjoyed him being my coach at the University of Georgia and what I was able to learn from him there, so I’d be super stoked.”

Beck said he’s enjoyed a “mini-reunion” with the Georgia teammates he’s run into at the NFL Combine, with 10 former Bulldogs in attendance this week in Indianapolis.

“I’ve been able to see everybody, and obviously I’ve spent a lot of time with those guys around the locker room, during games and in training, so those are relationships that last a lifetime,” Beck said.

“I love Coach Smart, (offensive coordinator Mike) Bobo, Coach Monken and all the other teammates I was able to have there … There’s no bad blood there, it’s just how everything worked out and how it happened.”

Beck’s transfer story could prove one for the ages, especially after Smart and Miami coach Mario Cristobal took turns roasting one another at the Steve Spurrier Awards in Gainesville, Florida, on Monday.

Beck, at the very least, was able to leave the podium smiling after being asked about the exchange in the latter stages of his interview.