Pat Nix interview on Finebaum Show

[toddc 13,196]

Everything Patrick Nix had to say about his son Bo Nix

ByBRANDON MARCELLO 17 hours ago 

Share7 Comments

Auburn legend Patrick Nix is a proud papa.

The former Auburn quarterback whose pass to Frank Sanders to knock off No. 1 Florida in The Swamp is forever cemented in Auburn lore. Now his son gets to slip on the same No. 10 jersey and lead the Tigers on the field Saturday in the season opener against No. 11 Oregon.

It's a historic and emotional week for the Nix family. Patrick Nix's father was a coach in Georgia during his time as Auburn's quarterback, and now grandfather and father will get to watch Bo Nix on the field at AT&T Stadium for the No. 16 Tigers.

 

Bo Nix is the first true freshman to start at quarterback in an Auburn season opener since 1946. Win or lose, Saturday will be special in Arlington, Texas.

Patrick Nix, who coached Bo throughout his career, is now the head coach at Pinson Valley, where he and his son won back-to-back state titles before the son left for Auburn to become the next big thing on the Plains.

 

Patrick Nix hasn't done local interviews this week, but he did jump on the Paul Finebaum Show to discuss his son, legacy and much more Thursday afternoon.

The full transcript is below.

ON BEING BO NIX' DAD DURING RECRUITING PROCESS

My wife and I, we really wanted Bo to do what was best for him. We told him several times we wanted him to go to have the experience that we had, wherever he wants to go. It doesn't have to be Auburn. He could have gone to Ohio State, Clemson, those were the final three he kinda came down to. We would have supported him and be happy any place he went. We anted him to go to where he felt like he could be his best, where he felt comfortable and where he felt like would give him the same chance to have the same experience I had at Auburn. It might not have been Auburn, and he really went and visited the other places to see and gave it a true chance, but at the end of the day I think he really felt like that he could achieve every goal that he wanted at Auburn. He felt like it was home, felt like it was family. Just I think at the end of the day Bo, it's very important to him he grows athletically, academically, socially, spiritually. He just felt like all areas he could really grow, he felt very comfortable with the coaching staff, with the people there. At the end of the day it was that comfort level of knowing that he could get everything the wanted accomplished, he could get it done. But not only that, I think at the end of the day, his love for Auburn and wanting to go there and make a mark there and leave a legacy there and carry on that tradition that, in the end, obviously, had a little bit to do with it also.

 

HOW WILL YOU DEAL WITH YOUR SON BEING THE STARTING QB AT AUBURN?

It's going to be different, there's no doubt. First time that I go watch him play and not being calling the plays and everything else for him. I think it's pretty well documented he and I had a really good conversations on the sideline of him wanting to run this play or that play, or let's do this or that, and it was very healthy. It was healthy for both of us. He's still that way with me now. He watched our video or came to the game last Friday night, he still had some suggestions and wanted his 2 cents to be put in. It'll be different for me, for sure, but quite honestly, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to being dad, I'm looking forward to sitting up in the stands, enjoying it, looking forward to Auburn coaches having him and coaching him and taking him to the next level, another level, and watching him continue to grow and develop. I'm really enjoying just being dad and being there to support him and encourage him, those kind of things, instead of coaching. I've got a younger son coming I get to coach, so I'm plenty busy coaching with what I'm doing here at Pinson, for sure, so it's nice to sit back and just enjoy a game and watch it and watch him play without having to worry about everything else.

 

ON HOW HE PLANS TO WATCH HIS SON AS FULL-TIME HIGH SCHOOL COACH:

I hope I'm awake for the game Saturday night, to be honest with you. We play Ramsay here in town in Birmingham, so we'll play Friday night and have to get all that done, get back, get everything turned in, get everything washed, get everything going. Thank goodness I have a great supporting cast with coaches and administration and great players who understand and know what's going on. We'll be on a flight first thing Saturday morning heading out, get to Dallas for the game and all, then turn around get back on Sunday ready to game plan. There will be some game planning Saturday on the airplane, or when I get to an airport or wherever I can get to a computer and watch video and stuff like that. It'll be a very busy weekend, but it's a very exciting time for my family. It's very exciting for obviously Bo and the rest of us to go watch him play. It's exciting for me and Caleb, my younger son, having Friday night football and still being part of that. So, right now there's no doubt the plate is full but wouldn't have it any other way. It's a lot of fun.

 

WILL YOU TRAVEL TO ALL OF BO NIX' GAMES?

The plan is to be at every game. I don't know how exactly we're going to do some of it, but the plan is going to be at every game. The SEC couldn't have done us more wrong as parents this year. Obviously going to Dallas and then Texas A&M, then Florida, then LSU. We're all over the map. Can't have one of those close games sprinkled in there with it. We've got to travel all over the place this year. Our high school schedule works with us a little bit a couple times. We're open on the week of the LSU game, some of that kind of stuff. Open after the week of the Texas A&M game. Gonna have a couple of chances to catch my breath.  But definitely it's going to be a very, very busy fall. I just hope I have the opportunity to go to every game, but the plan is to try to make every game, home or away, and like I said I'm very fortunate to have a good staff here that will be able to handle some stuff Friday night late, Saturday, until I can get back on Sundays. It'll be a lot of travel, but as an SEC fan, how much better does it get than to be able to go to Texas A&M, Florida, LSU? It really doesn't get a whole lot better. Going to Arkansas. You got to travel up there. As an SEC and a football fan, it's going to be a very fun year of just going to those venues also.

 

MUCH EASIER FOR YOU TO BREAK DOWN FILM NOW THAN FOR YOUR DAD BECAUSE OF TECHNOLOGY:

No, it's going to be much easier for me than it was for him. Now with technology and all this it's not hard to watch film, break it down wherever you are as opposed to when I was playing high school and college ball, and he was still in high school, having to actually be in the office to be able to watch it. I definitely have the advantage there, for sure.

 

HOW WILL YOU FEEL WHEN YOUR SON IS ON THE FIELD FOR THE FIRST SERIES? HEART RACING?

I sure hope so. I hope I don't walk in there and think, ahh, this is no big deal. I hope I walk in there and it's a very big deal, for a lot of reasons. As a dad, you're very proud as a dad. As a former letterman, very proud of that. A lot of different reasons to be very proud and very honored that it's my son out there playing. Yeah, I would definitely think my heart will be racing pretty good from pregame on. See him come out from the very get go. I sure hope. I don't have much of a heart if it's not going pretty good and I'm not pretty excited for him and thrilled for our family. If I don't have some emotion, something's not right. I absolutely fully expect for it to be fairly emotional for me, for all of us. You think about my dad. I get emotional thinking about it. You think about my dad, all that he's been through also. He remembers back to when I was playing when he was there, and now he's been with a grandson to watch him play. It's pretty special. There's no doubt it's pretty special for all of us. To be able to do this, not only is Bo getting to start as a true freshman, first game in college football but it's even more special it's in Auburn, for our family. There's no doubt there's a lot of reasons to be emotional, to be passionate about it, to be proud and thankful for what God has given us.

[boisnumber1 2,853]

Pat Nix has always been a great guy.

 

[AubWes33 471]

Great read. Thanks for posting. 

[aubiefifty 17,492]

51 minutes ago, boisnumber1 said:

Pat Nix has always been a great guy.

 

'cept that one time in walmart in anniston. lol i saw him and he realized i did and he ducked down some aisles just so he would not have to speak. still love him tho. he could have been in a hurry.............

[AUsince72 11,084]

6 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

'cept that one time in walmart in anniston. lol i saw him and he realized i did and he ducked down some aisles just so he would not have to speak. still love him tho. he could have been in a hurry.............

That might say more about you than him Fiddy.  

[aubiefifty 17,492]

1 minute ago, AUsince72 said:

That might say more about you than him Fiddy.  

i was mostly normal back then. that is my story and i am sticking with it 72..............i would blow y a kiss but i am afraid you would blow it back. so what happens when we both have to be politically correct? i am not anti gay but i am warped. sad i have to put disclaimers on my content so i do not get in trouble.................lol

[AUsince72 11,084]

30 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i was mostly normal back then. that is my story and i am sticking with it 72..............i would blow y a kiss but i am afraid you would blow it back. so what happens when we both have to be politically correct? i am not anti gay but i am warped. sad i have to put disclaimers on my content so i do not get in trouble.................lol

 

[toddc 13,196]

52 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

'cept that one time in walmart in anniston. lol i saw him and he realized i did and he ducked down some aisles just so he would not have to speak. still love him tho. he could have been in a hurry.............

Or, he thought some red-eyed guy was staring at him and it freaked him out! 😝 

[boisnumber1 2,853]

56 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

'cept that one time in walmart in anniston. lol i saw him and he realized i did and he ducked down some aisles just so he would not have to speak. still love him tho. he could have been in a hurry.............

So he's not only a great guy but a smart one too? 😁

[kevon67 2,368]

50 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

That might say more about you than him Fiddy.  

Beat me too it🤣

[wareagleguy 1,393]

I’ll admit, it makes me feel a tad old to think that I watched his dad play and now I’ll be watching him play. I was there in 93 in JH when he came off the bench, after White was injured, and threw the TD pass. The 94 UF win was on my birthday, all asked for that year was an AU win, and I got it!

[Zeek 16,684]

Yeah...uh...let's go ahead and offer the younger brother guys

https://247sports.com/Player/Caleb-Nix-46086463/

Troy already beat us to it

[bigbird 60,701]

11 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Yeah...uh...let's go ahead and offer the younger brother guys

https://247sports.com/Player/Caleb-Nix-46086463/

Troy already beat us to it

Let's hope he is more Eli Manning than Jordan Rodgers

[gr82be 14,643]

Patrick Nix was definitely an incredible young man in college. In '94 my 14 year old nephew had to write an essay for his class on who his most admired person was. He wrote it on Patrick Nix. His essay was picked as the winning essay. He went to school at Dallas County in a small town called Plantersville Al. If you blink you could miss it driving through to Selma. Anyway, word got down to Auburn and Patrick Nix came up to be present for the award and my nephew has a photo with him that I'm sure he'll keep forever. I just thought I'd share this. It made my family life long fans of Patrick Nix. 

[Zeek 16,684]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Let's hope he is more Eli Manning than Jordan Rodgers

He’s not as ugly as Eli but not as handsome as Jordan lol

[ellitor 33,285]

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Yeah...uh...let's go ahead and offer the younger brother guys

https://247sports.com/Player/Caleb-Nix-46086463/

Troy already beat us to it

I hate to be a Buzz Killington but some high school coaches in the state that have seen him play don't think Caleb will be a major prospect based on what they have seen so far.

[oracle79 3,569]

27 minutes ago, ellitor said:

don't think Caleb will be a major prospect based on what they have seen so far.

Joe Sullivan? Sometimes you take 'em 'cause it's the right thing to do (especially if the older brother wins a Heisman).

[ellitor 33,285]

24 minutes ago, oracle79 said:

Joe Sullivan? Sometimes you take 'em 'cause it's the right thing to do (especially if the older brother wins a Heisman).

Much different scholarship landscape now than back then.

[jared52 4,356]

3 hours ago, Zeek said:

Yeah...uh...let's go ahead and offer the younger brother guys

https://247sports.com/Player/Caleb-Nix-46086463/

Troy already beat us to it

He played 2 drives vs HTHS last week and it was a killer for Pinson. They were poised to take control early but those two 3 and outs let HTHS back in and it was tight after that with HTHS getting the W in the end. I’m not saying he’s not going to progress, and I have no idea how Bo did at Scottsboro his SO year, but Caleb is a ways off right now. 

[alexava 6,974]

16 hours ago, jared52 said:

He played 2 drives vs HTHS last week and it was a killer for Pinson. They were poised to take control early but those two 3 and outs let HTHS back in and it was tight after that with HTHS getting the W in the end. I’m not saying he’s not going to progress, and I have no idea how Bo did at Scottsboro his SO year, but Caleb is a ways off right now. 

I think bo was a stud his freshman year. 

[Viper 3,197]

On 8/29/2019 at 11:56 AM, aubiefifty said:

'cept that one time in walmart in anniston. lol i saw him and he realized i did and he ducked down some aisles just so he would not have to speak. still love him tho. he could have been in a hurry.............

I see Andy Fuller at least once every 2-3 years. Always say “War Eagle” to him like greeting a fellow fan.

Agreed with 72...you be...

[Viper 3,197]

21 hours ago, gr82be said:

Patrick Nix was definitely an incredible young man in college. In '94 my 14 year old nephew had to write an essay for his class on who his most admired person was. He wrote it on Patrick Nix. His essay was picked as the winning essay. He went to school at Dallas County in a small town called Plantersville Al. If you blink you could miss it driving through to Selma. Anyway, word got down to Auburn and Patrick Nix came up to be present for the award and my nephew has a photo with him that I'm sure he'll keep forever. I just thought I'd share this. It made my family life long fans of Patrick Nix. 

I admired Patrick Nix and Frank Sanders so much as young men on what they said more than their play on the field. Listening to Bo Nix’s first presser...apple is sitting right next to the tree. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

25 minutes ago, Viper said:

I admired Patrick Nix and Frank Sanders so much as young men on what they said more than their play on the field. Listening to Bo Nix’s first presser...apple is sitting right next to the tree. 

VERY impressed with Bo in front of the media.  But then, I thought of his dad and was...."well, of course".

[aubiefifty 17,492]

On 8/29/2019 at 12:38 PM, AUsince72 said:

 

dunna be throwin no slutpups at me 72.........that dog has seen and done turrible things.lol

[KolchakAU85 430]

In my sophomore year at AU, there was a guy named Bo (Jackson) who was a true freshman starter.  Hopefully this true Freshman Bo (Nix) will make as great of an impact.

War Damn Eagle.