With spring practice in the books, summer workouts and fall camp are next up for Auburn under first-year head coach Bryan Harsin. Quarterback Bo Nix, entering his third year, figures to play a large part in determining how much success the Tigers have in Year 1 of the Harsin era.
Nix has been up and down in two years as the AU starter under former coach Gus Malzahn. On Wednesday, Harsin visited “The Paul Finebaum Show” and shared what he saw the returning starter this spring.
“Bo’s a hard worker,” Harsin told Paul Finebaum. “That’s the first thing and I love that about any player that I get a chance to coach. He does it in the weight room, he does it on the practice field, he does it in the film room. And that’s really all we ask from every single guy on our team.
“You’re coming in here and you’re willing to work hard at bettering yourself, developing yourself at this craft, especially the quarterback position. You want guys to work hard. I think he’s very tough and he showed that through spring.
Harsin acknowledged that this will be Nix’s third offensive coordinator in as many seasons.
“He’s battled through, now, three different offenses and he’s willing to learn,” Harsin said. “He’s opened up his heart. He’s been in there every day with Coach Bobo. They have a chance to be together and prepare ourselves for the practices. He pushes himself at practice, he’s coachable when he’s on the field. And like any good player, he’s working to get better every single day and I appreciate that approach.
“The work ethic, the attitude and just that mindset of wanting to get better, that’s always appreciated by our staff and everybody that’s on our football team. And Bo does that every single day. He reminds me of a lot of guys I’ve had a chance to be around that are just striving to get better and improve themselves and be coachable along the way. And he’s got all those qualities. For me, that’s what you hope every player you have a chance to work with has. And when you have opportunities to work with guys like that, there’s gonna be an opportunity to get better. And that’s really what the focus has been with him and I appreciate that from him.”
Last season, Nix improved his completion percentage from 57.6 percent to 59.9 percent. Nix did, however, throw one more interception (7) in two fewer games compared to his freshman season.
[H/T 247Sports]
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
