STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -Tim Beckman has got a little bit of Jim Tressel in him, and some Urban Meyer too. Sprinkle in some Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer and the mixture is getting closer to complete.
As the son of a coach, Beckman has been around football since he was born and picking the brains of the game’s greats helped him get to where he is now. His latest accomplishment: Designing the defense that flustered Chase Daniel and slowed Missouri’s prolific offensive attack in the upset that shot Oklahoma State into the top 10.
“You grab things from everybody you’ve worked for, and then you just try to build your philosophy off of that and be successful with them. It’s all pieces of everybody,” Beckman said.
onto the scene at Bowling Green.
Through those experiences with two of the nation’s most successful head coaches, Beckman has grown – peeling off lessons just like he did as a young man who got to rub elbows with Cowher, Schottenheimer and other NFL coaches.
“With coach Tressel, he’s such a person that wants everybody to be successful. His whole goal is to make sure that everybody involved – and not just football players, but in the program – is successful,” Beckman said.
“Urban Meyer is a perfectionist. He wants perfection and he forces perfection in everything you do.”
Even his newest boss, Mike Gundy, has had an influence on him, emphasizing a family atmosphere.
And don’t forget his own family atmosphere. He was raised by Dave Beckman, a former NFL assistant with the Cleveland Browns and San Diego Chargers who also coached in the Canadian Football League and college.
“I’ve got 43 years of experience, being around Dad all the time. I’ve been around him my whole life,” Beckman said.
The latest bit of ingenuity is all his own, though. Beckman mixed up the Tigers by deploying some new wrinkles – among them, rushing four defensive ends to get maximum pressure on Daniel. The 2007 Heisman finalist was rushed into three interceptions, two more than he’d thrown in his previous five games combined, in Oklahoma State’s 28-23 win.
dy called the best defensive scheme he’s witnessed in 19 years of coaching.
“We might have changed it up a wrinkle here and there, but it was about the same thing that we had been working on,” Beckman said. “It’s a credit to the kids. They performed what we’ve been asking them to do.”
That’s because with Beckman, it’s all about the kids. He’s a sucker for motivational tactics, giving out black shirts for defenders who prove they’re worthy. The players also are given one orange chain link, and the MVP of one game gets to carry a bright orange chain – used to lock up opposing offenses – onto the field for the next game. The top defensive lineman, linebacker and defensive back in each game earns a dogtag with the letters BEATT – ballers excel all the time – as a reward, along with a plaque printed out by his wife in her own free time.
It’s all done to get his players to do their best.
“He wants to win so bad. That’s his main goal,” said defensive end Derek Burton, sporting his BEATT dogtag from the Missouri game. “He wants us to do good, and that means a lot.”
When he brought Beckman in, Gundy was impressed with his pedigree, style, charisma, recruiting prowess and, most importantly, the recommendations from his colleagues.
s, that’s very critical,” Gundy said. “We’re in the process of doing something very special here and we have a lot of things that we’ve never had here before, and we need guys that want to come in here and be committed.”
Gundy said he could see that commitment when Beckman’s family “took all of the scarlet and grey and threw it away and put on orange and black from Day 1,” even though they were barely removed from the national championship game.
It’s evident now that Beckman has Gundy’s complete trust. During defensive series, Gundy gets away from the action to focus on scripting the Cowboys’ next set of offensive plays and puts Beckman in full control.
M and followed that by forcing Missouri’s first two three-and-outs of the season with Daniel on the field.
“He’s super-smart and in his game-planning, he knew that if we went out there and executed his game plan, we’d win,” Burton said.
The success is nothing new for Beckman, who’s trying to keep his players focused the same way his mentors have done.
n the country and 6-0 going in,” Beckman said. “It’s just a great feeling, and it’s good for the kids, and we’re just going to have them relax and play ball.”
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