What Bo Nix said

[aubiefifty 16,709]

What Bo Nix said about Auburn football, Bryan Harsin and first time at Manning Passing Academy

 

3-4 minutes

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THIBODAUX, La. -  Bo Nix said he has adjusted well to changes in the Auburn football coaching staff .

The 6-foot-3, 214-pound junior quarterback said he is happy  on what he sees so far from the Tigers under Bryan Harsin, who took the Auburn job after spending the last seven seasons as Boise State's coach.

“I think I’ve adapted well,” Nix said while attending the Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls on Friday.  “They’ve done a great job of coming in and focusing on what we can do and what we’re good at. They are feeding the offense with the players that we have.”

EXPECTATIONS:Here's what Auburn football's Bryan Harsin wants to see from quarterback Bo Nix

Nix said he knows Harsin, a former Boise State quarterback, has a history of developing them. Harsin was the quarterbacks coach there from 2006-10 and worked with them when he was promoted, too. Boise State had four 3,000-yard passers (Taylor Tharp, Kellen Moore, Grant Hedrick and Brett Rypien) during that time.

Nix said he sees a lot of potential in Auburn’s offensive attack.

“I think we’re going to have a good, solid and disciplined team,” Nix said. “Offensively we are going to have a downhill rushing attack and an explosive passing game with some play action stuff. We’ll rely on the running game to develop some stuff in the passing game.”

TOPPMEYER:Why believe in Bryan Harsin's Auburn football coaching staff? Let Boise State remind you

Nix said he grew as a passer in 2020. He completed 59.9% of his passes for 2,415 yards, 219.5 yards per game, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for seven touchdowns.

“I’ve learned a lot from last season,” Nix said. “I’ve had a lot of takeaways from the year that I can learn from. Most of it just being consistent and well-prepared and not taking anything for granted.”

Auburn finished  6-5 in  coach Gus Malzahn’s final season in 2020. Nix said playing  during the COVID-19 pandemic made the season even tougher.

“It took the atmospheres out. It took the fan interaction out,” Nix said. “The fans and the atmosphere has a lot to do with games. You didn't have home field advantage. It adds excitement to the games.

“I think it showed the better teams with the better leadership and the better experience came out on top. At times last year we didn’t do enough with leadership and didn’t win games that we should’ve.”

Nix said he has enjoyed his time working as a camp counselor at the Manning Passing Academy, where he has had an opportunity to talk with former Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Eli Manning as well as top college quarterbacks from across the nation.

“This is my first time here. I’m really enjoying it,” Nix said. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about it. I was invited last year but I didn’t get a chance to come because of COVID. I’m having a good time. I’m really looking forward to being around the guys and the camaraderie. Learning what they go through and what I’m going through. Being closer with one another. I know a few of them from past experiences at camps and stuff. I’m looking forward to meeting all the guys.”

[AuburnWarVet 46]

I think he did a great job at the Manning Passing Academy. I got to watch him coach and teach while my son was there. My son even got to learn some things from him. He did really well with the guys he was with and had alot of energy to go with it. He seemed like he was having a blast.

[Barnacle 9,064]

Focus, discipline, leadership are keywords that keep popping up in all these interviews. It's not hard to see what Harsin is trying to do in this program. 

Really looking forward to SEC media days. I just can't get enough right now.

[cole256 17,039]

I'm excited that he was able to attend this. This means he was able to be around other talented QB's and see where they were at and how they prepare and approach their craft. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

36 minutes ago, AuburnWarVet said:

He seemed like he was having a blast.

Super happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing.

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

I think Bo is capable of having a Jason Campbell year 3 to year 4 type of turn around. Proper coaching will do wonders for him. He’s a momentum driven guy. The more he gets, the better he becomes. Gus just had a way of killing his QB’s confidence and momentum with terrible play calling. He sure does seem to love the game and want to get better.

Edited July 21, 2021 by AuCivilEng1

[woodford 3,655]

50 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

Focus, discipline, leadership are keywords that keep popping up in all these interviews. It's not hard to see what Harsin is trying to do in this program. 

Really looking forward to SEC media days. I just can't get enough right now.

I don’t think he’s going to win the Heisman or anything but his will to win should lead to some great moments this year and next (maybe). I think he truly wants to be the alpha on that team who leads by example. Shake off the last two years. Your career starts now.

September needs to hurry up!

[Barnacle 9,064]

3 minutes ago, woodford said:

I don’t think he’s going to win the Heisman or anything but his will to win should lead to some great moments this year and next (maybe). I think he truly wants to be the alpha on that team who leads by example. Shake off the last two years. Your career starts now.

September needs to hurry up!

Yeah I get the sense that Harsin is pushing Bo hard in the area of leadership. I don't have any doubts about Bo's will to win.  

[woodford 3,655]

2 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

Yeah I get the sense that Harsin is pushing Bo hard in the area of leadership. I don't have any doubts about Bo's will to win.  

Agreed. If he can raise his confidence he can stay in the pocket longer imo. He doesn’t need be a dynamic game changer. He needs to lead his offense down and field and control the game with his play. 
 

The term “game manger” is a negative one (for some dumb reason. All the “game managers” I’ve ever heard of won national Championships) but that’s really what Auburn needs. 

[cole256 17,039]

35 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I think Bo is capable of having a Jason Campbell year 3 to year 4 type of turn around. Proper coaching will do wonders for him. He’s a momentum driven guy. The more he gets, the better he becomes. Gus just had a way of killing his QB’s confidence and momentum with terrible play calling. He sure does seem to love the game and want to get better.

I see it said on this forum all the time about Jason last year. In fact on here he is the go to example to offer hope for QB's but Jason showed in his second year what he had to offer as far as potential. I'm arguing with you or anything and I'm not saying you did this because I see you said year 3 and 4,

I'm just saying it's not Jason was bad and at the last minute he wasn't while the subject is brought up. Once again I'm not arguing with you or anything

[Hank2020 3,195]

6 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I see it said on this forum all the time about Jason last year. In fact on here he is the go to example to offer hope for QB's but Jason showed in his second year what he had to offer as far as potential. I'm arguing with you or anything and I'm not saying you did this because I see you said year 3 and 4,

I'm just saying it's not Jason was bad and at the last minute he wasn't while the subject is brought up. Once again I'm not arguing with you or anything

I tend to use Jason’s year 3 vs 4 bc his passing went up 8-9 percentage points with more yards passing in senior year.

[Barnacle 9,064]

36 minutes ago, woodford said:

Agreed. If he can raise his confidence he can stay in the pocket longer imo. He doesn’t need be a dynamic game changer. He needs to lead his offense down and field and control the game with his play. 
 

The term “game manger” is a negative one (for some dumb reason. All the “game managers” I’ve ever heard of won national Championships) but that’s really what Auburn needs. 

Scheme will help Bo a lot. Having open receivers and check downs will help him stay in the pocket. 

[cole256 17,039]

12 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I tend to use Jason’s year 3 vs 4 bc his passing went up 8-9 percentage points with more yards passing in senior year.

Of course but nobody ever mentions how his second year he was on pace to be his best year. But once again it's not like he was horrible his entire career at Auburn until that magical last year and it finally came on for him. For all we know he could've just been playing hurt his junior year and when he got back healthy he just picked up from where he always was.

[cole256 17,039]

Bo just need to get better at the most important thing a QB does, passing the ball. He needs to become an accurate QB, like we say with every other dual threat QB that has played here and didn't get all the psych evals and stuff. It was always as simple as he has to be able to read defenses and throw accurately and not look to take off.

He does that we are a very dangerous team. He'll be the key to the offense being decent or incredible. That simple

Edited July 21, 2021 by cole256

[WarTim 3,456]

I was at an AU alum gathering last night. Ronnie Brown was guest speaker. (What a great human. Very well spoken and represents AU extremely well). He attributed 2004 to the closeness of the entire team and holding each other accountable. Hard Fighting Soldiers was not just a name. They lived it every day. He, Jason and Cadillac were DRIVEN to erase the memories of starting 2003 as the #1 team in the country and losing the first two games. They felt they had something to prove. That TEAM is one of my all time favorites. 

[Hank2020 3,195]

15 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Of course but nobody ever mentions how his second year he was on pace to be his best year. But once again it's not like he was horrible his entire career at Auburn until that magical last year and it finally came on for him. For all we know he could've just been playing hurt his junior year and when he got back healthy he just picked up from where he always was.

Not sure how to factor in injuries( stats I pulled up don’t show that information). His senior year stats show marked improvement over the other 3 years. Could also be the offense matched up better as I understand he played under multiple OC’s.

[cole256 17,039]

1 minute ago, Hank2020 said:

Not sure how to factor in injuries( stats I pulled up don’t show that information). His senior year stats show marked improvement over the other 3 years. Could also be the offense matched up better as I understand he played under multiple OC’s.

Clearly he didn't start the entire season his sophomore stats as his senior year he had more than over 110 attempts passing the ball but as far as his pace his sophomore year would've been better than his senior easy. Unless you just judge it by completion percentage.....

But ok, my point is still the same he showed he was pretty damn good and he fulfilled his potential

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

25 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Bo just need to get better at the most important thing a QB does, passing the ball. He needs to become an accurate QB, like we say with every other dual threat QB that has played here and didn't get all the psych evals and stuff. It was always as simple as he has to be able to read defenses and throw accurately and not look to take off.

He does that we are a very dangerous team. He'll be the key to the offense being decent or incredible. That simple

I think that just giving him more high percentage looks will improve his accuracy. That’s not even taking into account actual skill improvements that he may or may not develop. Just having a slant route, TE, RB to dump off to, and the type of play that actually gives you those options will help a ton. I could totally see Bo increasing his completion percentage by 4-5 points, just because the play calling improved. Time will tell. 

[Hank2020 3,195]

11 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Clearly he didn't start the entire season his sophomore stats as his senior year he had more than over 110 attempts passing the ball but as far as his pace his sophomore year would've been better than his senior easy. Unless you just judge it by completion percentage.....

But ok, my point is still the same he showed he was pretty damn good and he fulfilled his potential

The stats I saw said he played in same number of games, don’t know if he started or not.

[Hank2020 3,195]

1 minute ago, Hank2020 said:

The stats I saw said he played in same number of games, don’t know if he started or not.

Games played-9,13,13,13.

[cole256 17,039]

3 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I think that just giving him more high percentage looks will improve his accuracy. That’s not even taking into account actual skill improvements that he may or may not develop. Just having a slant route, TE, RB to dump off to, and the type of play that actually gives you those options will help a ton. I could totally see Bo increasing his completion percentage by 4-5 points, just because the play calling improved. Time will tell. 

You also have to take away all the little screen passes and all the jump balls then. To me that almost average out but one thing I do know from all the years I've played at corner, you better be accurate throwing a slant and attacking the middle of the field. Or it's a long day for the offense. 

You have to be accurate throwing the ball. Most important thing that a qb does....well most important is decision making but you see what I'm saying. He has to be better than he was last year. You take the QB from last year and change the offense it would be ugly.

 

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

Just now, Hank2020 said:

Games played-9,13,13,13.

Yea I remember him splitting reps with Daniel Cobb his freshman year, but I think he secured the job by the end and never gave it up. Wasn’t Josh Sullivan behind him?

[Hank2020 3,195]

1 minute ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Yea I remember him splitting reps with Daniel Cobb his freshman year, but I think he secured the job by the end and never gave it up. Wasn’t Josh Sullivan behind him?

I’m not sure!!

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

You also have to take away all the little screen passes and all the jump balls then. To me that almost average out but one thing I do know from all the years I've played at corner, you better be accurate throwing a slant and attacking the middle of the field. Or it's a long day for the offense. 

You have to be accurate throwing the ball. Most important thing that a qb does....well most important is decision making but you see what I'm saying. He has to be better than he was last year. You take the QB from last year and change the offense it would be ugly.

 

That’s where off season development comes in. I don’t know how accurate he is throwing drags and slant, etc, because he rarely had to throw them. He seems to have the drive and will to improve. I hope he does. He has a very high ceiling.

[cole256 17,039]

2 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

The stats I saw said he played in same number of games, don’t know if he started or not.

Yes that means he played. I showed the discrepancy in pass attempts, or you could look at box scores, or you could look at Auburn stats that season but either way with that number of attempts you absolutely have somebody else playing because a team will have to pass