The Daily O’Collegian

For a man who could be the defensive coordinator for the defending national champion Florida Gators, Tim Beckman is right where he wants to be.

This past spring, coach Mike Gundy released Vance Bedford of his defensive coordinator duties to find a guy who was better suited for his system, also known as “Gundyball.”

Gundy was looking for a guy who fit well with his staff. A guy who was young; a family man who had a lot of enthusiasm and who was willing to hold players accountable. Someone who would be a hard worker and loyal to the team.

Gundy found that guy in Beckman, who coached with two national champion coaches in Urban Meyer while at Bowling Green, and Jim Tressel while at Ohio State.

Gundy said he feels Beckman is the perfect fit for what he wanted in his defensive coordinator.

“He works the guys hard, and I’m looking forward to when he gets his system in place and up and running,” Gundy said.

Beckman said he could not be happier about being a Cowboy.

“I got rid of all the Ohio State scarlet and traded it in for Orange,” Beckman said.

“I’m excited for game day and so is my family. The whole Beckman family will be at the Georgia game.”

Beckman would have followed Meyer to the University of Utah and to the University of Florida as his assistant head coach and defensive coordinator when Meyer left Bowling Green, but Beckman’s father-in-law passed away two weeks after Meyer was hired at Utah.

Beckman knew he couldn’t move his family that soon, especially since his wife is an Ohio native. Beckman thought it would be too hard for his family as a whole to get over a loss of a close family member and have to deal with the moving process.

Instead, the Beckmans spent a few more seasons at Bowling Green.

Beckman finally felt it was time to move in a different direction when he took the cornerbacks coaching position at Ohio State in 2005. He was at this spot for two seasons when Gundy came calling about a defensive coordinators position. Beckman said he felt it was the right place and the right team for him to make the move out of Ohio and to Oklahoma.

“Mike Gundy and his staff is what got me here,” Beckman said. “Honestly, sitting across from him is like looking at Urban Meyer. He’s young, very energetic, has a plan and I felt very comfortable with him and the rest of the staff.”

Beckman landed in Stillwater with his feet running in February and he has yet to stop going.

Beckman made some big splashes as soon as he arrived.

He asked senior Donovan Woods to move from safety to linebacker, senior Rod Johnson to move from linebacker to defensive end and Ricky Price to switch from wide receiver to safety.

All the players obliged and have made the transition smoothly — all are expected to strengthen the defense in a big way.

Woods might make the biggest impact. Beckman said Woods is so versatile that the defense will be able to run several different defensive fronts that will confuse offenses.

Beckman not only brings position changes but also a different attitude and intensity level than Bedford.

“I feel that coach Beckman is a whole lot more motivated,” senior cornerback Martel Van Zant said. “He really wants to get into the top 25 in defense. He seems like a really crazy guy and he’s always yelling at his players, but he’s yelling at them and going off on them to get them to step it.

“He wants us to be better players, he doesn’t want us to hang our head. He wants us to stay motivated and when we are motivated it makes him happy.”

Van Zant said Beckman is all about becoming a team, and he is teaching them about playing as a team and not as individuals.

Van Zant said as a result, the defense is starting to think as a team, and he believes this season that the Cowboys will have a better opportunity to succeed.