On December 17, 2022, things were starting to look a little bit dire for the Oregon Ducks. There was still no clarity on whether or not quarterback Bo Nix would be coming back for his final season in Eugene, and speculation that 5-star QB commit Dante Moore was going to flip from the Ducks to UCLA was growing. With new offensive coordinator Will Stein taking over for Kenny Dillingham, some questions were starting to swirl about what the future was like for Oregon.
Fortunately, Nix’s decision soon came, and his return to Eugene would immediately shift the Ducks’ future outlook from questions into contention.
For Joey Harrington, a former Oregon QB legend, the fact that Nix came back for another season was not a surprise. I spoke to Harrington this last week on the newest episode of the Sco-ing Long Podcast and asked him about Nix’s decision.
“I wasn’t surprised to be perfectly honest,” Harrington said. “Because of how he spoke about the team, how we spoke about Eugene, how he spoke about his experience versus what it was at Auburn. And there was never a direct comparison; like he never said ‘at Auburn, this was terrible, and at Oregon, it’s fantastic.’ But there’s a reason he left, right? I mean, let’s kind of take this whole picture, you know. He was the golden boy. I mean, he literally was the coach’s son who, you know, who was a former quarterback and now is destined to be, you know — his son is going to be the savior for Auburn football. And it was a pretty rough, rough time for him. You know, it was not a smooth few years.”
Nix’s career at Auburn started out on an incredibly high note when he, as a true freshman, mounted a comeback in his first career game to beat Justin Herbert and the Oregon Ducks in 2019. However, the entirety of his Auburn career would see a lot of ups and downs. In 34 career games with the Tigers, Nix threw for 39 touchdowns and 16 INT, going 21-16 as a starter.
The ‘golden boy’ status quickly wore off, and Nix drew a lot of criticism and guile from the Auburn fanbase.
“And so he left and he came to a place where he was immediately accepted. He had immediate success. I mean, let’s be honest, he was adored, and he connected with not just the team but the community. You heard him say over and over how much he and his wife loved being in Eugene and loved to be part of that Oregon community. And so, when people talk like that, there are emotions at play, right? It’s more than just a financial decision. Now, had he been projected to be a first-round pick, you know, I’m sure he would have left. But I think that combination of him not just wanting to improve draft stock or prove to people that he could be the type of player that everyone thought he was coming out of high school. When you combine that with the emotional experience that he had, I wasn’t surprised to see that he made the decision to come back.”
Regardless of the reasoning, every Oregon fan is thrilled to have Nix back in Eugene for another season. With him under center, the sky is the limit for what this team can achieve in 2023.
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