Flock Talk: I Will Dare
On December 11, 2021, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens announced Dan Lanning as the 35th head coach in Oregon football history. Six days later Kenny Dillingham joined his friend in Eugene as offensive coordinator. Two days after that – on December 19th – Bo Nix announced he was transferring to Oregon.
If you went solely by fan reaction at the time, there was not a lot of joy in Eugene. Some were frustrated more generally that Oregon went to the transfer portal for another QB, mostly there were a lot of fans who felt that Nix was going to cause more disruption than he was worth; there were the echoes of the term ‘good Bo, bad Bo’ running through the heads of fans and it made sense. Against really good teams in the SEC, Nix struggled.
In many ways, the analysis was about all we had since most Oregon fans had not really paid much attention to Auburn football – but Nix was not well protected and had very little support in terms of skill players. He had gone through three different coordinators (Dillingham – who was likely a ceremonial coordinator under Gus Malzahn, Chad Morris, and Mike Bobo) in his three seasons at Auburn and was facing a different sort of pressure than simply playing the game of football.
Nix gave a little hint as to the issues he was facing at Auburn – and it’s not like he was awful, he passed for over 7,250 yards with 39 touchdowns and 16 interceptions during his three seasons as starter. But he never lived up to the hype of a five-star QB to Auburn fans. When he left he told the media about what drew him to Oregon.
“When I was looking, evaluating my options, Oregon was really the number one the whole entire time,” Nix said. “Because when you look at Oregon, you ask yourself like why not Oregon, you know the brand of Oregon, the ‘O’ itself signifies so much in college football, you know, you’re in a year out, they have a chance to be in the top four in the country. That’s what I wanted to be a part of. I wanted to be able to play have a chance to play in the playoff.”
It is that last part that shows the issue – he knew that Auburn was nowhere near playoff caliber and he wanted that chance – but he also wanted something more.
Following his departure, Nix began his Oregon career somewhat inauspiciously completing 21 of 37 (56.8%) for 173 yards and 2 interceptions as the Ducks lost to eventual national champion Georgia 49-3. But that game changed Bo Nix in a way no one really saw.
Following the performance, Lanning was pragmatic in his discussion about Nix’s performance during his post-game press conference on what Nix needed to improve upon.
“Not turning the ball over, obviously that’s a big piece. That’s where it starts. Operate within the framework of the offense. You don’t have to create any plays that aren’t there for you to make, you just have to take the ones that are sitting in front of you. When he did that, we were effective at times on offense. When you operate outside the system, it’s going to struggle at times. I think that would be for anybody.”
There were moments during that game that we saw how Lanning was going to help Nix resurrect his career. There were no moments of negative ranting about a bad throw into triple coverage – instead Lanning gave Nix support, compassion, and a hug. Nix would go on to complete 71.9% of his passes for 3,593 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions in 2022 adding another 510 yards on the ground (6.7 ypc) and 14 rushing touchdowns.
What was the biggest difference? A hug during that loss to Georgia. Nix said later during the 2022 season that “There’s nothing better than when you know your coach loves you and has your back,” Nix said. “You play better. You play harder.”
Nix also married after graduating from Auburn and began to realize exactly what Lanning and Dillingham were preaching – play within yourself and let your teammates help you. “The difference now is he’s not trying to make a great play every play,” Dillingham said. “He’s trying to make the correct play.”
It’s funny how perspective changes when you let go of undue pressure, start living for something bigger than yourself, and let the flow of the game take over.
Nix addressed the concept of pressure following the 2023 season in a podcast with Ryan Russillo about the difference between playing at Auburn and Oregon. “In the sense, the hostility and maybe the unhealthy pressure that is added to 18- to 22-year-olds by outside noise and fans,” Nix said. “Like it’s almost like an unhealthy obsession in the South. I was that way growing up. I thought it was life-or-death football.”
Much has been made of this statement – as if it were somehow an insult to one conference. The truth is Nix was talking about a life lesson he learned. He did not get better because he left the SEC, he got better because he started to understand that having a passion for success does not have to mean that the sport defines the player.
If you had asked anyone in December 2021 where Nix would have been drafted following his college career the answer would almost surely have been ‘he won’t.’ And yet here we are, two years later and Nix is the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
A single moment does not define a person – and Nix began to shine when he let go of pressure. The loss to Georgia would not be what Nix let define him. Even in heartbreaking losses to rival Washington, the moments did not define the person – they simply defined the game itself and those are life lessons in how to come back the next week and do it all over again.
When you look back over his career at Oregon it was clear that Nix let go of the pressure when he realized that success would be defined by being a husband, a role model (he does not swear because he does not want young children to be influenced negatively), a leader, and a friend.
At some point, football ends for most players and they are left with those other things that better define them than wins, losses, and interceptions. Nix summed it up in a recent interview with Oregon Live that “out here football is just a game, and we want to find the joy in it. You move out here, and you play the game as hard as you can,” he said. “You got great passion for the game. It’s a little bit more laid back in a way.”
It's amazing how a fresh perspective took that pressure off his shoulders, allowed him to just play the game, and succeed.
“This school has changed my life,” Nix has said. “This school just gave me an opportunity to be myself again and get out of the spotlight of, ‘you’re playing because your dad played here,’ or ‘you are only doing it because you are an Auburn fan’ or this and that. But now I can just go do it because I love playing quarterback.”
But Nix did something more than that – he helped revive the fun that Oregon fans felt on game day. The past two seasons evoked memories of the years between 2009-2014 when Oregon had an offense that kept fans standing and cheering. That had sort of gone away over the prior four seasons and it was difficult at times to see fan joy being lower than it had been in well over a decade. The resurgence in a fun environment is a part of what made Nix’s time in Eugene fun for everyone.
Through trials and tests, we persevere,
In every loss, a chance to clear
The doubts that linger, the fears that bind,
For in the game, true strength we find.
Just as a team can rally and soar,
So too can we, forever more.
With every kick, a chance to start,
A symbol of hope within each heart.
So let the game of life unfold,
With victories sweet and tales untold.
For in the rebirth of the human spirit,
We find our essence, we truly inherit.