The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Director of Football Performance
- Phone:
- 512-471-1917
A well-respected coach within his industry for his educational approach to the profession, Torre Becton was announced as Director of Football Performance at Texas on January 22, 2021.
Becton comes to Austin after completing four seasons as head athletic performance coach for football at California. Outside of the 2020 season when the Bears played just four games, Becton has been on staffs of bowl teams in eight of the previous nine seasons after the Golden Bears' trips to the Cheez-It Bowl in 2018 and Redbox Bowl in 2019.
Cal also posted winning records in 2018 and 2019 to give the Bears their first back-to-back winning campaigns and bowl appearances since 2008 and 2009. In addition, the Bears produced wins over all but one of the other five schools in the Pac-12 North and in road games at all three of their Pac-12 California opponents since Becton's arrival, ending droughts that dated back to 2000 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and 2009 at the Rose Bowl and Stanford Stadium. The Bears also took down a top-15 team in each of his first three seasons including 2018 Pac-12 champion Washington each of the last two campaigns, improved their win totals each of the past two seasons and produced a perfect 9-0 mark in regular-season non-conference games including four wins against Power 5 schools. Cal also won twice in 2019 on its final offensive possession, committed only a school-record-low 13 turnovers and led the Pac-12 and ranked in the top 20 nationally in all penalty categories.
Prior to Becton's arrival at Cal in 2017, he spent a combined six seasons on the strength and conditioning staffs at Washington (2011-15) and USC (2016), working with Cal head coach Justin Wilcox during the 2012 and 2013 seasons at Washington when Wilcox served as defensive coordinator for the Huskies.
As the associate head strength and conditioning coach at USC in 2016 he helped the Trojans develop into one of the top teams in the nation with a final No. 3 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll.
Becton spent the five prior seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Washington, the first three under head coach Steve Sarkisian and another two after being retained by Chris Petersen. Becton played a significant role in developing the foundation for a 2016 squad that captured the Pac-12 title and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals before ending the season ranked No. 4 in the final AP Top 25 poll.
Becton also took on the key role of overseeing the integration of freshmen into the team training structure and football program at both USC and Washington by designing and implementing a mentoring orientation period that would help them become acclimated to life on a college campus and increase their chances of success.
Before moving to the Pac-12, Becton spent one season as the Director of Speed, Strength and Development at South Carolina State in 2010, where he helped the Bulldogs to a 9-2 overall record and a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.
Becton also picked up one season of experience in the NFL as a strength and conditioning assistant with the Houston Texans in 2009 after previous stints on staffs at Iowa State (2007-08), Baylor (2003-06) and Oklahoma State (2002-03).
A first generation college graduate, Becton played football for four seasons on the defensive line at North Carolina A&T State (1996-2000) with the Aggies winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title during his 1999 junior campaign. Becton graduated from North Carolina A&T State in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education/fitness and wellness management. He added a master's degree in Sport Science from the United States Sports Academy in 2014 and completed 450 hours as an intern with the Director of Football Operations at Washington in 2013
Becton become one of 10 members of the class of 2019 to earn the prestigious title of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCCC), which is the top honor awarded by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). He was previously certified through the CSCCa as a Strength & Conditioning Coach (SCCC) and is also Functional Movement Systems (FMS) Level 1 certified, as well as a USA Weightlifting (USAW) Sports Performance Coach.
The well-versed Becton is on the programming committee for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), a former huddle leader for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
A native of Kinston, N.C., Becton and his wife, Chinela, are the parents of four daughters, Ariyah, Kennedi, Charlize and Austyn.
