Gus Malzahn and his staff have always been glad to have Bo Nix on their side.
When the freshman struggled last season, Malzahn was glad he made mistakes so he could learn from them ahead of a long Auburn career. When Nix showed flashes of brilliance, Malzahn was sure those were signs of future greatness from the QB.
And yet again, amid a worldwide pandemic, the head coach is happy the young quarterback is in his corner right about now.
For many programs, spring spells separation for raging quarterback battles. Whenever and however college football practices do return, many coaches will be allotting time and energy to determine a starter under center.
Malzahn will have a luxury many will not. Auburn will be full steam ahead with its unquestioned starting quarterback. And that's a big edge for a program, the eighth-year coach thinks.
"That's probably the No. 1 advantage — teams that do have a starting quarterback coming back," Malzahn said last Tuesday during a teleconference. "... I think all that will be determined how big of an advantage that will be when we see how much time we have to work with our players."
Spring ball at Auburn last year was when Nix and the now-departed Joey Gatewood separated themselves as "QB1 and 1A" heading into fall camp. Odd man out Malik Willis then transferred to Liberty.
Some of Auburn's most familiar opponents were expecting to end this spring with that same clarity.
Alabama needed to sort out the QB race between Mac Jones, Taulia Tagovailoa and 5-star freshman Bryce Young. Mike Leach needed to evaluate his crowded QB room of Garrett Shrader, Keytaon Thompson and Stanford transfer K.J. Costello at Mississippi State. LSU, Georgia and Arkansas needed to break in assumed starters Myles Brennan, Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman and Florida transfer Feleipe Franks, respectively.
All that is currently on hold, while Auburn has its unquestioned offensive leader.
Nix last season won SEC Freshman of the Year while breaking every major freshman passing record in the program.
Nix and his room meet once a week for virtual instruction with new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Chad Morris. Last season Nix was backed up by Cord Sandberg, and the race for QB2 is expected to be between him and freshman dual-threat QB Chayil Garnett.
Coaches are allowed four hours a week to work with players over video chats, and strength coach Ryan Russell last week sent workout plans for the Tigers to stay in shape.
In terms of staying prepared for football to return, Malzahn knows Nix is the last player he has to worry about getting lax.
"I think any coach's son that is prepared and has been prepared helps," Malzahn said. "And then I think the fact there's a year under Bo's belt of experience in our league — I think that helps, too, especially with the grind of our schedule that he went through. He experienced a little bit of everything — ups and downs and in betweens and great defense after great defense.
"So I think that definitely is good for us having Bo returning."
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