Carson Beck is in the national championship. Georgia is not. The optics might appear to be bad for Kirby Smart’s program, vindicating for Beck and evidence that Georgia should have done things differently.
But it’s not all that simple.
You will not find many Georgia people, if any, who have regrets. Beck not returning to Athens was more about circumstances, and calling it a mutual parting is accurate.
In fact, if there is any what-might-have-been for Georgia, it revolves around the other quarterback in Monday’s game.
Here is an account of the Beck-Georgia story, based on reporting at the time and conversations with sources familiar with Beck’s trajectory, all of whom were given anonymity to speak candidly.
The background
Beck enrolled at Georgia exactly six years ago as a four-star recruit. The pandemic hit a couple of months later, and Beck didn’t have spring practice. He redshirted during the 2020 season, served as the third-string quarterback the next year, and came close to transferring. But he decided to return and was Stetson Bennett’s top backup in 2022, seeing plenty of action in blowouts, including the national championship win over TCU.
That set up Beck to be the starter in 2023, and he was great: He led the SEC in passing yardage, finished top-three in other key categories and took the team to a 13-1 record, the only blemish a loss to Alabama in the SEC championship. NFL scouts eyed Beck as a possible first- or second-round pick, but he elected to return to school.
Then Beck’s performance dipped, especially his accuracy: His interceptions doubled from six to 12, and his completion percentage dropped from 72.4 to 64.7. Beck’s draft stock slipped, but it was still assumed he would turn pro, this being his fifth season in college.
Then came the elbow injury, which changed everything.
December 2024
Beck suffered a sprained elbow on the final play of the first half in the SEC championship, hit while attempting a Hail Mary from midfield. Enter Gunner Stockton, who led Georgia to a comeback win over Texas, although Beck was inserted for the winning play, a handoff, because Stockton’s helmet had been knocked off.
Up until last year’s SEC championship, everyone’s understanding — the team, Beck and his camp — was that he would turn pro after the season. Beck briefly did that, declaring for the draft on Dec. 28, 2024. Georgia was planning for life without him, grooming Stockton and backup Ryan Puglisi, but also looking at transfer portal candidates.
Fernando Mendoza, transferring from California, visited Athens in mid-December. Georgia coaches felt good about their chances. But he opted for Indiana, where his brother was already on the team, and where he was certain to start.
Georgia coaches told Mendoza that Stockton was not guaranteed the starting job in 2025, but he would be starting the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, and potentially CFP games. There was a chance Stockton would make it too hard to replace him.
Beck coming back, meanwhile, wasn’t even on the radar. The NIL money that went to Beck in 2024 was already committed elsewhere.
Miami, meanwhile, had a gaping hole at quarterback. That was also where Beck’s girlfriend at the time, Hanna Cavinder, went to school. Beck and his advisers began to realize his injury was knocking down his NFL stock, and that another year in college could help, especially if it meant continuing to make money. Miami was able to put together an NIL deal that sources with knowledge of the negotiations told The Athletic was for around $3 million.
Beck announced Jan. 9 that he was entering the transfer portal. A day later, he announced for Miami. And a day after that, he was on Miami’s campus.
But in that week or so that Beck changed his mind, did Beck or one of his advisers talk to someone at Georgia about coming back? That’s possible, but who spoke to whom and to what degree is murky. The safe assumption is that both sides had moved on from each other.
Why the parting was mutual
Beck was ready to go to Miami, for personal and playing reasons. There was also the response of his Georgia teammates to Stockton, practically glowing with praise:
Then-guard Tate Ratledge said after the SEC championship that Stockton entering the game “made everybody realize that this is the new juice that we’ve got to come into the second half with.” Then in the lead-up to the Sugar Bowl, Ratledge said Stockton was “just a guy you want to block for.”
Tight end Oscar Delp called Stockton “old school … not a materialistic kind of guy. He’s not into the NIL-type stuff. He’s just a guy who likes to be around his friends and his cows.”
None of this should have been expressly taken as shots against Beck. It was just clear Georgia players really, really liked Stockton.
Beck was quieter, sometimes detached, living off campus in 2024 with friends from Jacksonville. He had friends on the team, and when Beck spent the early part of 2024 enjoying the fruits of his success — the infamous Lamborghini, going to big events — it wasn’t considered a problem.
But when Beck’s play dipped, and then Stockton was thrust onto the field, it was hard not to read into what teammates said about Stockton after the game and in the lead-up to the Sugar Bowl.
Then there was Beck’s absence after his injury, mulling his options and getting back to health in Jacksonville.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie to you, but it was a distraction for us,” then-Georgia receiver Arian Smith told The Athletic in late January 2025. “We didn’t know what he was thinking. We didn’t know where he was for a while. Coach told us and he was honest with (them) and told us he was doing his own thing.”
Beck eventually re-joined the team a few days before the Sugar Bowl. He was just a fan and ex-teammate at that point, having declared for the draft. But, of course, that wasn’t how it turned out.
The mixed verdict
Things definitely worked out for Beck. He hasn’t quite lifted his NFL stock back up, but he probably wasn’t going to be picked high last year because of the injury. And by going to Miami for a year, he made more money — and has a chance to win a national title.
Of course, Beck already has two national championship rings from Georgia. That’s another reason the Bulldogs aren’t beating themselves up over the parting; this is no longer a long-suffering program.
Stockton also had a better regular season than Beck. He helped the Bulldogs go 12-1 and won a second straight SEC championship. He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting, and Georgia may not even have made the playoff without Stockton’s performance in the wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss.
There’s an argument that Beck’s live arm would have helped stretch the field more for Georgia. The counter to that is Stockton’s mobility (462 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns) and accuracy (only five interceptions, versus 11 for Beck at Miami).
Perhaps the only history Georgia would like to change is Beck getting hurt. If he doesn’t, and Stockton doesn’t lead the team to the win over Texas, then perhaps Mendoza decides to go to Georgia. And then perhaps five-star recruit Jared Curtis sticks with Georgia instead of flipping to Vanderbilt, where he can play right away in 2026, rather than knowing he would be Stockton’s backup.
But Beck did get hurt. There’s no guarantee Georgia beats Ole Miss if it has Mendoza. The alternate history is fun. What we know is that Beck and Miami are in the national championship, but Georgia also had a good year with Stockton, and he returns in 2026 to lead what should be another CFP contender.
Beck leaving Georgia was a mutual parting, borne of circumstance. And neither side has regrets.