If Carson Beck could offer just one lesson from the past 12 months of his life, it’s to trust in God and His plan. Easier said than done, sure, but as he prepares to help Miami vie for a national championship on Monday, he offers his football career as an example.
Before transferring to Miami a year ago, he was a two-year starter at Georgia, where he went 24-3 and was a part of two national championship teams in 2021 and 2022. He entered the 2024 season as one of the top overall prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft, and he played like it — throwing for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns with 12 interceptions as Georgia went on to win the SEC title.
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But his season was cut short after injuring his elbow on the final play of the first half in Georgia’s SEC championship game win over Texas. He had surgery a few weeks later to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, and just five days later on Dec. 28, he declared for the NFL Draft.
But the surgery meant he’d need to recover and not throw a football for about three months. Then he’d need to rebuild strength in his arm before throwing. Any hopes of working out at the NFL Combine were gone, as were any other pre-draft workouts. ESPN reported that Beck was told to expect to be drafted anywhere from the first to third round, and that some teams may be hesitant to take him with an early-round pick if they couldn’t see him throw ahead of time.
He told ESPN in a recent interview that he was “in a very dark place” and it was hard to see any future in football. So he went to God in prayer and sought advice from others close to him.
“I was just trying to accept what had happened,” he said in April 2025 on the “Built 4 More” podcast with pastor Joby Martin and Denny Thompson, a quarterback coach who has also served as a Godly mentor for Beck. “Just working through my mental and trying to make decisions on what my future was going to look like, we ultimately came to the conclusion that coming back to college was going to be the best idea for me.”
He immediately became one of the top prospects in the transfer portal and signed with Miami shortly after. He played high school football at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, so returning to Florida provided some level of familiarity. But effectively, it was a fresh start for Beck, who has said on several occasions that since he arrived at Miami, he’s found joy in playing football again.
“Going to a new place with new people and new coaches and kind of revitalizing everything — obviously leaving that behind and moving on to something new created new energy and good energy for me and my mental space,” he said on the podcast. “Ultimately, I do think it was the best decision for me.”
With Beck at the helm, the Hurricanes opened the season as the No. 10 team and quickly knocked off then-No. 6 Notre Dame, 27-24, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in their first game. Miami finished the regular season 10-2 and snuck into the College Football Playoff as the No. 10 seed, which led to some debates on whether or not they belonged.
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But the Hurricanes have handled the criticism on the field, defeating No. 7-seed Texas A&M, 10-3, at Kyle Field, and then beating defending-national-champion and No. 2-seed Ohio State, 24-14, in the Cotton Bowl. Miami then out-dueled No. 6 Ole Miss, 31-27, in the Fiesta Bowl, with Beck’s touchdown run late in the fourth quarter proving to be the game-winner.
“I feel like God has a plan in everything He does and everything ultimately comes into fruition for A, B or C reason,” he said on the podcast. “You end up figuring that out in time. Even after the injury, it wasn’t even in my thought to go back to college.”
Now, he’ll not only get to play for a national championship for the first time as a starter, but he’ll get to do it at home, with Monday’s game being played at Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes have a tall task again in facing unbeaten and No. 1 Indiana, led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza — who grew up in Miami and will be enjoying a homecoming of his own.
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“Throughout this year, the biggest thing that God has taught me is to trust in Him and His plan. Although I might not understand what the end of all of this might look like, His plan will come into fruition no matter what I might be in in the moment,” Beck said ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. “Obviously that can be hard when, you know, back in March I’m sitting there and I’m in a brace and going through rehab, and I can’t throw a football yet, and I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know what the season’s going to look like. There’s so many question marks and unknowns. It’s in those moments that you have to lean into that the most.
“Even with that, things aren’t going to be perfect. Things are never going to be perfect. Continuing to lean into that and focusing on my identity in Christ and my faith is something that has really pushed me through. It’s gotten me through everything that I’ve been through.”
Beck — who plays with a cross symbol on his right thigh pad and draws crosses with eye black on his face for games — will lead the Canes against Indiana in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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