Keep An Eye On Patrick Nix

As you probably know, former Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix was named offensive coordinator at Miami on Friday. It's quite a promotion for the former Georgia Tech coordinator. Nix is setting himself up nicely for a shot at a head coaching job in a few years.

It's hard to believe Nix has been at Tech for five years. The past three seasons he's served as offensive coordinator, but in reality he just started calling plays this past year. The hiring is interesting for several reasons.

Nix came out of nowhere to land the job. The 34 year-old had an up and down first season calling plays, helping lead the Yellow Jackets to the ACC Championship game. The consensus among many in the ACC was that Tech coach Chan Gailey still had a hand in the offense and wouldn't let Nix completely open it up like he wanted.

He has a reputation as a creative offensive mind. Perhaps just as important, Nix is known as a tireless recruiter. If you can recruit to Tech, you should have a field day in South Florida. But what apparently landed him the job was the way he coached against Miami this season.

New Hurricanes head coach Randy Shannon, who served as defensive coordinator under former coach Larry Coker, said he liked what he saw when facing Nix. "As a former defensive coordinator, you always judge a coach on what they present. Patrick Nix did a great job against us last year adjusting to what we did as a defense," said Shannon.

Nix is now in the spotlight. His day has come. The lights don't get much brighter than Miami. The entire country will be watching next season. Let's hope this Auburn man is successful. Yeah, it's going to be strange to actually pull for Miami. I'm sure it's something that most Auburn people have never done.

But I will be pulling for them because I want Patrick Nix to be successful. He's a good man. More importantly, he's a good Auburn man.

Keep an eye on Patrick Nix. If he continues to be successful, we may see him back on the Plains one day. At his young age, he very well could replace Tommy Tuberville when he retires. Let's hope he continues to learn and improve. Patrick, good luck. Auburn is watching.