Beckman hired as Oklahoma State defensive coordinator

Ohio State defensive backs coach Tim Beckman has taken the job as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, sources say. Although the first sentence of the story is extremely shady (2006 national champion Ohio State Buckeyes?), the rest of it appears to be credible, as Rivals ($) has also put up a similar article. There is no word yet on who will replace Beckman as defensive backs coach, but whoever does it will have some tough shoes to fill.

Beckman may have been the best assistant on the team without the title "coordinator." He deserves a whole lot of credit for helping to bring in the nation's top recruiting class this season as far as the secondary is concerned (assuming the likes of Torrence and Clifford don't switch sides), and has also been instrumental in the development of Ohio State's two most recent starting cornerbacks Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith. Smith was a walk-on at Ohio State, who most people doubted would be successful when he finally got the chance to start. However, when the season rolled around, Smith garnered first team All-Conference accolades (as did Jenkins). Jenkins, on the other hand, was brought into the program as an unheralded safety prospect out of High School. However, he started a few games as a true freshman at cornerback. Not only is the fact that he started as a true freshman impressive, but the fact that he had to switch positions and climbed the depth chart faster than higher-ranked players of the same year in Andre Amos and Jamario O'Neal just screams great coaching. Sure, both players worked incredibly hard to achieve their goals, but what was the common denominator to both of their successes? Tim Beckman.

Best of luck at the other OSU, Tim. I'm sure you'll be a hell of a coordinator.