Utah
Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s 3-year contract makes him one of the Big 12′s highest-paid assistant coaches
Former New Mexico offensive coordinator Jason Beck is getting a substantial raise in his move to Utah.
Beck’s contract to call Utah’s offense is for three seasons and runs from Dec. 6, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2028, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by the Deseret News via a public records request.
Beck made $400,000 last season in Albuquerque, according to a USA Today database of college football assistant coach salaries, and effectively tripled his salary in his move to Salt Lake City.
Utah will pay Beck a base salary of $1.25 million in 2025, according to his contract. He will get a $100,000 raise in each year of his contract, earning a base salary of $1.35 million in 2026 and $1.45 million in 2027.
While it’s a step down from the $2,050,000 that made veteran offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in all of college football, Beck’s salary stacks up well in the Big 12.
Salary data isn’t available for private schools (BYU, TCU and Baylor), but Beck’s $1.25 million salary would have made him the third-highest-paid assistant coach in the league this season, behind Ludwig and Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, who made $2 million in 2024.
For comparison, Mack Leftwich, who recently signed a deal to be Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator, is making $1 million in 2025, $1.1 million in 2026 and $1.2 million in 2027, according to a copy of his contract obtained by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Beck has been at Utah for just two weeks and has already made a massive impact on the Utes’ offensive revamp. Two staff members that have previously worked with Beck have been hired at Utah — running backs coach Mark Atuaia and receivers coach Micah Simon — and highly sought-after New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier followed Beck to Salt Lake City.
Dampier totaled 3,934 yards of offense in 2024 — 2,768 passing and 1,166 rushing — in Beck’s offense, which was the fourth-most-productive in the country, generating 484.2 yards per game. The sophomore quarterback has been the perfect fit for Beck’s spread offense, which features a lot of quarterback runs and run-pass options.
Under Beck’s direction, the Utes have added seven players from the transfer portal to the offensive side of the ball, including Dampier, Washington State freshman running back Wayshawn Parker (735 yards and four touchdowns) and Tulsa receiver Joseph Williams (30 receptions for 588 yards and five touchdowns in seven games).
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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