Former Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, who spent a decade in coaching, landed his first head coaching job at USF. But before he rose to those ranks, he was a QB for the Cleveland Browns in 2015. As an Ohio State alum and the brother of Mike, an intern under Urban Meyer, Brian would make frequent trips to Columbus. And that’s how he became acquainted with his current USF offensive coordinator.

Hartline, then 28, didn’t know he would need Tim Beck’s services in the future, who was OSU’s play caller and QBs coach. But in those frequent 140-mile trips, Hartline left a lasting impression on Beck. The 60-year-old OC not only gauged Hartline’s brilliance early but was in awe of his “knowledge of the game.” Cut to 2026, Hartline used his prior acquaintance to rope in Beck at USF. The reason? Hartline wanted the best of the two OSU greats.

“Tim Beck spent a lot of time with Coach Meyer at Ohio State with a similar philosophy, similar terminology that we kind of ended up enhancing,” Hartline said on David Pollack’s podcast yesterday. “Coach Day was obviously a big part of a lot of all of that. And as it grew at Ohio State, it was Ryan Day’s offense. So the ability to take Coach Meyer at Ohio State and blend it with Coach Day and the way that all works was my goal.”

Beck comes to USF with almost four decades of coaching experience. He was Ohio State’s co-OC and QBs coach in 2015 and 2016. In Columbus, Beck helped Ohio State produce an exceptional 23-3 overall record. In 2016, he helped OSU rank 11th in rushing and 13th in scoring offense nationally. Despite such impressive records, they didn’t match the Buckeye standard, and Beck eventually had to make a face-saving exit.

In 2015, Beck sat in the press box calling the plays as OSU was undefeated. Fans were hoping for a second consecutive playoff appearance, and the pressure grew on him to avoid any slipups, all while the team hadn’t decided on a QB1 between Cardale Jones and JT Barrett. So, when Michigan State beat them 17-14 on November 21, all hopes for a playoff berth went down the drain, and fans quickly turned against Beck.

“Tim Beck has settled in. That was a tough situation he jumped into,” Urban Meyer said about Beck’s 2015 season. “I put that one more on me than Tim last year. We had our coordinator on the field last year. Tim was stuck in a position that he shouldn’t have been in, because I’m very active in the play calling, and it was a triangle. That’s too much.”

Returning in 2016, Beck handed over the play-calling duties to Ed Warinner, focusing only on coaching the QBs. The past year, he called plays and coordinated with Warinner. But since he had the last call, criticism came Beck’s way. For him, though, 2015 presented a steep learning curve compared to his previous job at Nebraska since 2008. And that prepared him for future high-profile roles.

“Just because when you’re at one place for so long, and you do it for so long a certain way, when you change and come here, anything is going to be different,” Beck said in 2016. “Every area of the program is different than where I came from. Last year, I was like, ‘What’s that?’ and trying to learn all the stuff on the fly. It was extremely difficult.”

That was the added push Beck needed, but he still didn’t quite fit at Ohio State. So, when Clemson steamrolled Ohio State 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl in 2016, Urban Meyer prepared for a full reset. Although the HC didn’t fire Beck as he left for Texas’ QBs coach job, everything was building up to the Clemson game, and it seemed Beck’s OSU days always had a limited time in Columbus. Now, 10 years removed from his OSU tenure, Beck has become an accomplished offensive maestro.

Tim Beck opens up on his offensive philosophy at USF

Beck has a stellar track record of developing elite QBs, which is precisely what Hartline is counting on. At Texas, he molded Sam Ehlinger into a record-setter, and at NC State, he turned Devin Leary into one of the most explosive passers in the ACC (3,400 yards, 35 TDs). Now Beck feels that the same magic can elevate USF’s offense.

“We want to be physical. We want to be tough. And we want to be fast. You recruit good athletes, then let them play hard and free,” Beck said about his offensive philosophy at USF. “I think, for the most part, you have to run the football to control the tempo of the game…But make no mistake, you have to throw it to win. It starts with the quarterback. What can he handle? What’s he good at? I evaluate everything … from how the offseason programs are going for our quarterbacks to how they are doing academically.”

After USF’s spring game on April 19, Michael Van Buren and Luke Kromenhoek are battling for the QB1 job. Both players were 4-star talents out of high school and came to USF after getting decent snaps at their previous programs.

The battle features two distinct talents. Van Buren Jr. brings more passing experience from his time at LSU, where he threw for over 1,000 yards, while Kromenhoek has shown dual-threat potential in his own right. This gives Beck a choice between a more seasoned passer and a developing playmaker.