Decision-making, 'mental toughness' at forefront of Bo Nix's development

[aubiefifty 16,777]

Decision-making, 'mental toughness' at forefront of Bo Nix's development

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

8-10 minutes

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Bo Nix’s talent has never been in question.

There’s a reason he was a five-star quarterback coming out of Pinson Valley, where he was ranked as the nation’s top dual-threat quarterback and No. 33 overall recruit in the 2019 class, and a reason why he has been a starter since Day 1 at Auburn. He has the arm strength and ability to make throws, and he also has a level of athleticism that can help him thrive at the quarterback position.

Yet Nix isn’t a finished product, and he’ll readily admit that. There are areas of his game with which he has struggled through his first two seasons while not fully tapping into his potential at the position. That’s where Bryan Harsin and Mike Bobo come in.

Auburn’s first-year head coach and new offensive coordinator have been hard at work with Nix this spring as the junior familiarizes himself with his third different offense in as many seasons. Nix, Harsin said, is smart and has picked up the foundation of the base offense this spring, but as practices wind down and Auburn prepares for the offseason, the focus for Nix now is on the finer details of the offense’s DNA — understanding the why behind the how.

“We know what we’re supposed to do and how to execute it; the fundamentals are there,” Harsin said. “Now, it’s why would we do this, rather than just coming right out there and doing it. Sometimes, I think quarterbacks, they all want to show you what they know. So, the first time you give them an option, they do it. And it’s probably not even the right time to do it. They just do it. They just do it to show you, ‘I know there’s an option, let me show you I can do it.’ It’s not even the right time. So, you’ve got to make sure that you can do it at the right time and that you can teach it properly.”

One area in particular Harsin is harping on with Nix is with his decision-making at quarterback—an aspect of the position that has been an issue at times for Nix over the last two seasons, whether it has been forcing throws that aren’t there, untimely interceptions or not putting enough trust in his protection. Those issues have been a cause for some consternation when it comes to Nix, as Auburn has had to balance his flashes of brilliance — the game-winning touchdowns or dazzling plays with his feet — with the at-times frustrating lows, such as his three-interception performances in losses to Florida in 2019 and against a poor South Carolina team this past season.

“Always at that position, to me, the quarterback position is about decision-making,” Harsin said. “It’s about decision-making. I think the best players that you see play that position at the next level, in college and in high school, the reason why they’re good players is because they make great decisions. Quarterback is about making decisions.

“You’ve got to be accurate. You’ve got to have the physical traits to go out there and play that position. Bo’s got those things.”

But he also has a career completion rate of 58.7 percent while failing to complete at least 60 percent of his passes in either of his first two seasons, as well as just 28 touchdown passes to 13 career interceptions — including a 12-to-7 ratio last season. The physical attributes will only carry Nix so far, so he needs to improve on making better decisions on a consistent, every-down basis.

Harsin and Bobo should know, considering their track records of grooming quarterbacks at the college level. Bobo has helped develop quarterbacks such as Aaron Murray, Matthew Stafford and David Greene during his time at Georgia.

Harsin, who played the position in high school and college, has worked with the likes of Jared Zabransky, Kellen Moore, Brett Rypien and Hank Bachmeier during his stints at Boise State. Zabranksy completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,578 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2006 under Harsin; Moore, a 2009 Heisman finalist had 99 touchdowns, 19 interceptions and 10,867 passing yards on 68.5 percent passing in three seasons under Harsin; Rypien had 113,578 yards, 90 touchdowns and 29 interceptions while completing 64 percent of his passes during his Broncos career; and Bachmeier completed 62 percent of his passes for 3,029 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight picks in his first two seasons under Harsin.

“To me, every quarterback that I’ve coached — the guys that I have had a chance to get out there and be a part of their development — have made great decisions,” Harsin said. “You’ve got to make decisions. You’ve got to make sure that, alright, when we go out there, we want every drive to end in a kick. We want drives where we keep the ball in our hand. We want to move the ball. We want to make good plays. We want to make good decisions. That’s where the quarterback position is at now.”

Now the hope is Harsin and Bobo can help Nix take that next step in his development. While improving his completion rate and overall accuracy with his passes will be key, that decision-making aspect won’t just be about making the right throws; it will be about knowing when not to make the wrong throws under pressure.

“Defense is going to get you,” Harsin said. “They’re going to get you sometimes. They’re going to have the right call; they’re going to cut somebody loose. There’s going to be something that the defense does that you as a quarterback now, what is your plan? What is your immediate reaction? What are you going to do? And sometimes, you throw it away. And that’s probably one of the hardest things.”

Harsin calls those the “boo” plays—the ones that illicit a smattering of displeasure from the fans in the stands despite nothing explicitly bad actually resulting from the play. It may have been that the defense played good coverage, and you needed to avoid taking a sack or losing yards. Sometimes, Harsin said, it’s just the right play to make — and knowing that is crucial to being a successful quarterback.

“That’s where, at that position, where the maturity and toughness have to come in,” Harsin said. “You have to be a tough dude, now. You’ve got to have that mental toughness. You have to have thick skin. There might be two bad play-calls, and both of them were throwaways — but that’s the right thing.”

That mental toughness under pressure comes down to being able to analyze situations in real time and make the right decisions without getting flustered or forced into the wrong choices — which happened at times with Nix, whether it was bailing on the pocket too early when the first read wasn’t there or forcing an errant pass into a nonexistent window. But those good decisions will come with the fine-tuning of Nix’s understanding of the offense and a keen attention to detail — which is a cornerstone of Harsin’s coaching philosophy.

Nix has worked to focus on those finer details throughout the spring, noting last month that he’s doing what he can to “make every rep and every play count” and learn the intricacies of the Tigers’ offense. That goes back to that 1-0 mentality Harsin has worked to instill since taking over the program in December.

“Bo has been focused on him and controlling what he can control,” Bobo said. “Cleaning up his footwork, trying to make the right progressions and throwing the ball on time and letting his athletic ability take over on instinct and not necessarily looking to run. I’ve been really proud with how he’s worked and how he’s progressed.”

Now it’s about finishing the spring in the same way during this final week of practice. The goal is to better establish that understanding behind the Tigers’ offensive system and continue to develop that resilience and acuity when it comes to decision making so Nix is in a good spot heading into the summer months before picking things back up during fall camp.

“You have to have a lot of maturity and a lot of toughness—a lot of mental toughness to make that decision,” Harsin said. “And I’m not talking about throwing the ball well or on time but making good decisions — pulling it down to run, getting us in the right play.

“Sometimes, when you’re behind or when you’re pressing, you want to push too far and try to do too much,” Harsin said. “All you’ve got to do is do your job at your position like everybody else. Execute your assignment. And I think that’s where the quarterbacks are going now with Coach Bobo. We know some of the other things. Now it’s time that our decision-making, as we get through the next week, we’ve got to at least get to the point where we understand what we want to do.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.