Tim Beck will see a number of familiar faces on the opposing sideline Saturday night at Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State hosts Nebraska, a place where the current Buckeyes’ quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator spent seven seasons prior to coming to Columbus.
“It was a great time there for seven years and the people were good,” Beck said Wednesday after practice. “It’s good people there and the fan base and stuff. I enjoyed my time there, my family did, and I always wish them the best.”
Beck worked for Nebraska from 2008 to 2014. He spent time as a running backs coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. There are players on the Huskers’ roster Beck had a hand in recruiting to Lincoln.
He knows some of Nebraska’s personnel — in particular, quarterback Tommy Armstrong — and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was asked Wednesday if that gave the Buckeyes any sort of edge ahead of Saturday’s primetime showdown.
“I asked [Beck] about Tommy and obviously he’s an incredible player,” Meyer said. “He knows a lot of the personnel, but obviously schematically zero. Personnel he can give you a little bit of insight on guys. It was about a four-minute conversation and we move on.”
Beck offered up his own insight on Armstrong — a player which Ohio State knows will be a unique challenge.
“I had [Armstrong] when he was a lot younger, he was a redshirt freshman, so he’s grown up a lot and he’s playing really well for them,” Beck said. “I’m proud of him and he’s obviously changed in their system and stuff so it’s a different time and a different offense so it’s a lot harder to say, ‘This is what he does.’”
So, nothing earth shattering there. And that’s hardly surprising as it has been a couple of years since Beck was on the Nebraska staff. But sometimes every little bit helps and if Beck’s knowledge of the Huskers assists Ohio State in even the littlest way Saturday night, that’s an advantage.
Coaches face their old schools all of the time; that’s just the nature of the profession. And Beck will be in that exact situation Saturday night when he looks across the field at the Nebraska sideline.
“Great kids, great coaches,” Beck said. “Getting the opportunity to be around coach [Tom] Osborne, a legendary coach, getting to know him. Just that environment. It is a unique place and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach at a place like that.”
