Beck to Nebraska

There was smoke, and now there’s fire.

Kansas University football assistant coach Tim Beck officially was named running-backs coach at Nebraska on Monday, ending weeks of swirling rumors that he would be leaving KU after the Orange Bowl.

Beck will work under new Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, an old high school teammate in Youngstown, Ohio, who was hired away from LSU last month.

Pelini named eight of his nine assistants last month but held off completing his staff until after the last coach worked his team’s bowl game. That ended up being Beck, who was in Miami and helped Kansas defeat Virginia Tech, 24-21, in the Orange Bowl last week.

Beck coached KU’s wide receivers for three years and also was one of the Jayhawks’ top recruiters in talent-rich Texas.

Convention bound

Several of KU’s football coaches are in Anaheim, Calif., this week for the American Football Coaches Association Convention.

The annual convention consists of speakers, award presentations and meetings. There’s also a good amount of networking and plenty of catching up done by thousands of coaches who have crossed paths somewhere along the line.

The convention takes place through Wednesday.

Pick on his way

Rivals.com reported Monday that Kale Pick, a 6-foot-1 quarterback out of Dodge City High, plans to move to Lawrence on Jan. 14 to enroll at Kansas.

Pick will be on campus in time for spring practices, which start in March. He will room with fellow early high school graduate Nicholas Plato out of Edwardsville, Ill.