Ted Lasso Unveils Heartbreaking Backstory for Ted and Coach Beard

Coach Beard and Ted Lasso have been together since before the Ted Lasso series even existed. Brendan Hunt’s eclectic assistant coach appeared alongside Jason Sudeikis in the original NBC Sports sketches that first created the Ted Lasso character. We’ve always known that the two come as a package deal, but their history together has remained a mystery. How do they know each other? Why are they so close? What is it about Ted that caused Beard to move halfway around the world with him? In the penultimate episode of , those questions are finally answered.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Ted Lasso! Continue reading at your own risk…

In this week’s new episode of Ted Lasso, Ted and the folks at Richmond decide they want to bring Nate back, offering him a second chance with the team after he left for a rival at the end of Season 2. Everyone wants Nate back except for Beard, who is still harboring a lot of anger for his former colleague. Ted shows beard the full video of the day Nate ripped the “Believe” sign, revealing that Nate actually got stuck under Ted’s desk and stayed there for hours. It was sad, and Ted’s comments about second changes sparked something in Beard, causing him to go to Nate’s apartment.

Face-to-face with Nate, Beard tells the entire story of how he and Ted became close. After playing football together in college, Beard was in prison, and he had no one to turn to when he got out. Ted helped him out, and Beard returned the favor by trying to steal Ted’s car.

“Ted and I met playing college football. He was the backup punter, I was the backup kicker,” Beard recalls to Nate. “We never got in a game, but we spent a lot of time together jogging, doing box jumps. After school we went our separate ways. He was dating Michelle and got into coaching, I got into prison. When I got paroled, I had not money, family didn’t want me, I had nowhere to go, so I looked up Ted. He took me in, fed me, let me crash on his couch. And in return, I stole his car. I didn’t get far. And I would’ve gone straight back to prison if Ted didn’t come down there and convince those cops that he gave me the car.”

Ted gave Beard a second chance that he may not have deserved, because Ted knew it was the right thing to do. It turns out, Ted was right, as Beard remains his best friend and closest confidant all these years later. The conversation between Beard and Nate ends with Beard offering Nate the same thing. He forgives Nate and tells him to come to work on Monday, where he has a second chance at Richmond.

Beard has always been a wild character, but hearing more about the man he used to be helps explain the close relationship he has with Ted.