Assistant coach Beckman began his coaching career at
Auburn as a graduate assistant under
Pat Dye from 1988 to 1989. Auburn were
SEC co-champions in those seasons, and Beckman earned a master's degree in education from Auburn. From 1990 to 1995, Beckman was secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at
Western Carolina. He later became defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at
Elon, a position he would hold from 1996 to 1997.
Toledo On December 4, 2008, Beckman was hired as the head coach at Toledo, to replace
Tom Amstutz, who resigned during the 2008 season. Beckman's teams at Toledo saw consistent improvement. The
2008 team he inherited went 3–9. In 2009, his first year as a head coach, his team improved to finish 5–7. In the following year, his team finished
8–5, 7–1 in the
MAC, earning a berth to the
2010 Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, which they lost 34–32 to the
FIU Golden Panthers. In his final year at Toledo, Coach Beckman finished
9–4, 7–1 in the MAC to be West Division co-champions with
Northern Illinois. This team earned a berth to the
2011 Military Bowl. However, Beckman left after the regular season to become the head coach for
Illinois.
Illinois At Illinois, Beckman went 12–25 in three seasons, and only won four games in Big Ten play. In his third season, the Illini managed to qualify for a bowl with a 6–6 record, but lost 35–18 to
Louisiana Tech in the
Heart of Dallas Bowl. On August 28, 2015—just a week before what was to be his fourth season—Beckman was fired after the preliminary results of an internal investigation substantiated accusations of gross player mistreatment. Most seriously, the investigation found that he'd forced players to play through serious injuries and had the medical staff clear these players too soon. In a statement, Beckman called his ouster a "rush to judgment" that violated the terms of his contract, and stated that he intended to "vigorously defend both my reputation and my legal rights." On April 11, 2016, Beckman settled with the university for a one time payment of $250,000 with the decision of firing "for cause" due to the mistreatment of players standing.
North Carolina On August 24, 2016; Beckman was hired to serve as a volunteer assistant defensive coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels, working under head coach
Larry Fedora. Beckman and Fedora have a working history together, having both served as assistant coaches on
Mike Gundy's staff at Oklahoma State in 2007. However, after a firestorm of criticism, Beckman resigned from this position the next day, claiming he did not want to be a "distraction." It was later revealed that UNC chancellor
Carol Folt had strongly objected to Beckman's presence, even in a volunteer role, once she learned about the arrangement. ==Controversies==