Vanderbilt Football Notebook: Tim Beck on Jared Curtis, Offensive Adjustments With New Faces, Michael Smith Injury – Sports Illustrated

In this story:
NASHVILLE – On a chilly, sunny Saturday morning, Vanderbilt closed out its second week in spring practice. Notably freshman quarterback Jared Curtis dropped back and threw an out route to a receiver for a throwing rep along with the rest of the quarterbacks.
It’s a new era in Nashville for the offense of offensive coordinator Tim Beck. Regardless of who it is, there is going to be a new starting quarterback, new faces at receivers and some new faces up front blocking for the offense.
Fall camp and the 2026 season is still a while away, but for now, the reps the players at each position group are getting are “gold” as Beck and head coach Clark Lea would say. While there has not been any official announcement on starting quarterback, Curtis has been the talk of the town since the day he flipped his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt.
And Beck has, of course, been paying close attention to Curtis’ game and the reps he has put into practice these first two weeks.
“Jared had a really nice throw on a post out today. He’s learning and we have thrown a lot at him. We have put a lot into the last five days. We’ve kind of added something to each practice,” Beck said. “Now until the end of time, it’s time to polish some things and get better into what we’ve put in. But everything that he’s doing is on track and on pace to be a good quarterback.”
Between what Lea said after the first day of spring practice and what Beck said of Curtis on Saturday, the common denominator each coach talked about was how there is still plenty for Curtis to learn and rightfully so.
Curtis has not been on campus and learning under Beck for very long, so there will be a learning curve for Curtis and a continual process of learning and growing throughout the season.
“He’s just got to continue to learn the offense so that he can perform at a comfortable level when he gets in the huddle,” Beck said.
The loss of offensive weapons like Diego Pavia, Eli Stowers and offensive linemen such as Jordan White brings along many new faces for the next season. This year, there are plenty of new faces between the quarterback room, the receiver room and on the offensive line.
What helped Vanderbilt’s offense become so successful in 2025 is that the team had so much chemistry ingrained from the 2024 season between its most successful pieces. It is a little different this year, though.
“Ayntime you don’t have your starting center and starting quarterback back, there’s always that learning curve with the new people. And even though Blaze [Berlowitz] has been with us for a while now, it’s different when we don't have that older guy around to help correct mistakes with the younger guys,” Beck said. “Our guys are doing a great job of competing and we’ve thrown a lot at them. We have a long way to go, but it’s been a lot of fun because at all the positions offensively, we’ve got a lot of really good competition.”
One of the things that Vanderbilt will continue to develop is the chemistry of the team. Getting to the level of how synced together the team was last season is not an easy thing to do, but it can certainly be done. But the veterans on the offense will help build that chemistry and togetherness back up again.
“Cade McConnell is a great example of being an older guy that understands how important that is. We got a lot of new faces on offense, but a lot of them will spend time together and do some things outside of football, which is what we need to help build that chemistry,” Beck said.
Offensive lineman Michael Smith has not been in spring practice so far due to a shoulder injury. Smith has had two surgeries on his shoulder and is currently recovering for the summer.
“We knew he was going to have to have that taken care of. It’s just a matter of getting him to the summer so we can actually get him doing some things. But he’s just got to recover right now,” Beck said.
Smith transferred to Vanderbilt in the offseason after playing JUCO ball at Mississippi State Gulf Coast Community College.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.
Loading recommendations… Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations
Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
© 2026 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.

source