When Auburn begins its regular season in the fall, its offense will be coached by Mike Bobo, the team’s third offensive coordinator in three years. During Bobo’s first press conference Monday, he said that he anticipates giving Auburn a whole new look on offense.
“With the whole staff, we are able to get a lot of ideas about what direction we want to go,” Bobo said. “It is going to be a fluid process, we are still trying to figure out the players that we have and the talent we have offensively.”
During Auburn’s open practice on Saturday, onlookers were able to get a glimpse of that new direction the offense is taking.
Bo Nix was the first-team quarterback for the whole practice, which did not come as much of a surprise. What was a surprise, however, was Nix taking snaps from under center.
Under former head coach Gus Malzahn, his quarterbacks typically ran the shotgun where the quarterback takes snaps from a few yards behind the center. Bobo said the quarterback will be taking far more snaps lined up directly under the center.
“I don’t know if Nix has taken 10 snaps under-center in his career,” Bobo said. “But he’s been the best at it so far. We’re not going to be a primarily under center, and we’re not going to be primarily out of the gun. We’re going to be a mixture of both. That’s going to be something that is going to be part of the Auburn offense.”
Alongside Nix, Bobo complemented his whole core of running backs on the work they have put in thus far. Tank Bigsby, the team’s starting running back from last year, is the back who is constantly in Bobo’s ear, the coach said. Bobo said that Bigsby is frequently calling and facetiming him to learn more about the new schemes and plays the team will be running.
“The great ones have it in them,” Bobo said. “They always want to get better and push themselves. Tank has that in him. He is serious about wanting to be the best player he can be.”
Redshirt freshman running back Jay Sharp took a lot of the third team reps on Saturday. When asked about the explosive back from Pinson Valley High School, Bobo said Sharp has done a “nice job” through three spring practices.
As for who will be the pass catchers, that is a “work in progress”, according to Bobo.
During Saturday’s practice, tons of younger talent took reps with the first team. The departure of all three starting wide receivers - Anthony Schwartz, Seth Williams and Eli Stove- to the NFL Draft leaves room open for players to earn starting roles.
Bobo singled out sophomore receiver Ja’Varrius Johnson as one of the players who stood out in his eyes. He said that Johnson earned the “playmaker of the day” status in multiple parts of the past practices.
He also mentioned that Nix and Bigsby have been the team’s hardest workers since he arrived on staff and set the standard and tone for the whole team.
“These guys, every single day, how they approach their workouts, how they go about their business, how they’re serious in the meetings, learn, question,” Bobo said. “They’re setting the right example for the other guys on the football team, other guys on offense.”
Auburn’s offense will be entering a new chapter when the team begins play next season. Things will look the same, while many aspects will be different. Bobo said he wants to have as many components as he can on offense, to set the team up for success.
“We are going to have elements of spread, under center, two tight ends, fullbacks,” Bobo said. We want to be a wide-open, pro-style offense.”
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