Bo Nix amped for full offseason of work as leader of offense
TAMPA, Fla. | Bo Nix couldn't feel anything but a loss after the Outback Bowl.
"I hate losing probably about as much as anybody," he told reporters in the tunnels of Raymond James Stadium, not long after dropping his final game of the year to Minnesota, 31-24.
That's the competitiveness of Auburn's SEC Freshman of the Year. It took some time in the Tigers' locker room to be able to get his head up. But when he emerged to speak for the final time this season, officially a sophomore quarterback, Nix was able to look toward the horizon.
"Obviously there’s a lot of things going on in my head, a lot of things I can think about," Nix said. "One of the main ones is keeping everyone together and focusing in on next year — and with the guys coming back and how good we can be, and how much better we can get this offseason and how much we’re willing to work for it.”
After spending his first eight months on campus — from January to August — attempting to earn the favor of his coaching staff and win the starting job, and the remainder of the year working to be the best freshman QB he could be, Nix is now expected to be the centerpiece for an overall offensive improvement for the team heading into next season.
“He went up against the toughest schedule in football as a true freshman. He learned. He's going to be a great quarterback for us,” Gus Malzahn said after the Outback Bowl. “More than that, I think he's going to be a great leader for us. Those are my expectations. I'm glad he's our quarterback.”
Nix doesn’t have to worry about competing to be Auburn’s starter now. When 2020 practices commence, he, Malzahn and new offensive coordinator Chad Morris will put their heads together in an effort to maximize Nix’s second-year progression — and, in turn, the development and versatility of Auburn’s offense.
Whatever form that takes with his second offensive coordinator in as many years, Nix is game.
“I think we'll continue to progress,” Nix said of working with Malzahn and Morris this offseason. “Whichever way the offense goes, we're going to give good effort. I think we'll have a really good offseason.”
Nix finished his 2019 season as the top freshman passer in program history in terms of completions, yardage and touchdowns.
Auburn had just the No. 9 passing offense in the conference this season. Nix finished the year with the ninth-best quarterback rating in the conference, but heading into next year, the pecking order of the SEC’s top quarterbacks appears to be mostly up for grabs.
There will be no more Joe Burrow. There’s a good chance there will be no more Tua Tagovailoa or Jake Fromm. It’ll be Nix, along with Florida’s Kyle Trask, Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, Ole Miss’ John Rhys Plumlee, Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano and Mississippi State’s Garrett Schrader serving as the top returning players under center in the conference.
There’s also no more Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room with Nix. Instead of focusing on beating him out and winning the job, Nix will work on his relationship with his pass-catchers, as well as his own physique.
“This offseason I’m really focusing in on, for myself, getting bigger, stronger, faster like everybody else, and continue to have another offseason in the development stage,” Nix said. “I got here early last year and we had a lot of different quarterbacks, so really just being able to work with the receivers and other guys, and really zoning in on what we need to get better on.”
Auburn loses three seniors from its receiving corps in Will Hastings, Jay Jay Wilson and Sal Cannella, who were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in receptions from Nix this year. But leading receiver Seth Williams will be a junior; Anthony Schwartz, if he chooses to play football, with be a junior; Eli Stove will be a senior; Shedrick Jackson and Matthew Hill will have a chance to rise up as juniors; and the Tigers signed four receivers in the 2020 class.
And as Morris and Malzahn work on Nix and his development, the quarterback will spend countless hours getting an improved rapport with those wideouts. The sophomore can’t wait for that grind.
“It’s really exciting,” Nix said. “I’m looking forward to it — looking forward to working out with them and throwing to them and seeing how much better we can get for next year.”
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