In a Wednesday afternoon press release, Auburn officially announced the hire of Derrick Nix as the new offensive coordinator and the promotion of former special assistant to the head coach Kent Austin as the quarterbacks coach.

“I’m very excited for this opportunity at Auburn and to get back on staff with Coach Freeze. Having worked with him before, I have a strong understanding of what he wants offensively as well as culture wise,” Nix said in the release. “Fundamentally, we want to be a fast, physical and fearless offensive scoring unit. I’m also looking forward to rejoining Coach Austin after working with him at Ole Miss for two years. Growing up in the state of Alabama, I understand what Auburn is about. I have vivid memories as a kid following the likes of Bo Jackson, Stan White and the undefeated team in 1993. I’m excited to be a part of the rich tradition of Auburn football and can’t wait to get started.”

The hirings officially complete Auburn’s offensive staff after the firing of former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Philip Montgomery as well as the resignation of former running backs coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.

“I’m really excited to reunite with Derrick here at Auburn,” head coach Hugh Freeze said. “He is an outstanding recruiter and coach who has nearly two decades of experience in the Southeastern Conference. Derrick knows the level of excellence required to be successful in this league and I know he’s looking forward to the opportunity to help develop a winning program at Auburn.”

Ole Miss first broke the news Nix’s move to Auburn with a letter signed by head coach Lane Kiffin.

Nix had been at Ole Miss since 2008 in various roles including running backs coach, wide receivers coach and associate head coach. Nix was the running backs coach during Freeze’s tenure as the head coach in Oxford.

Austin was Freeze’s co-offensive coordinator at Liberty from 2019-2022. He was also the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss from 2008-2009 — with Nix on his staff.

“I feel very honored and blessed to be given this new position and am thankful for the trust Coach Freeze has placed with me to develop our quarterbacks at Auburn,” Austin said in the release.

The move of Austin into the quarterbacks coach role has long been expected and was initially reported shortly by 247Sports after Montgomery was fired.

In advance of the Music City Bowl, quarterback Payton Thorne made a revealing comment when asked how he was planning to develop going into 2024 and mentioned Freeze and Austin as the coaches helping him with his technique. He did not mention Montgomery.

What remains unclear is who will call plays for Auburn next season.

Multiple reports have suggested Freeze plays to take over play calling duties for 2024.

That comes after at SEC Media Days before the 2023 season, Freeze said he was putting Montgomery in charge of play calling because he no longer felt like the top-level play-caller he may have once been while being the head coach at Ole Miss or Liberty.

He hired Montgomery to have someone he could pass off the focus of the offense to while he focused on recruiting and building Auburn’s roster for the future. It didn’t work. Montgomery’s offense was in the bottom 10 nationally in passing yards per game in 2023.

Freeze maintained throughout the year that he was still involved in the offense and could take over play calling if he felt he had the hot hand. It was Freeze who called the play which led to a game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Rivaldo Fairweather against Cal to save Auburn on a day where it struggled mightily. It was Freeze who initiated a turnaround of the offense when he “put his foot down” after four consecutive SEC losses.

Freeze made it clear it bothered him to no longer be in complete charge of the offense. It certainly seemed to itch him that he wasn’t calling more plays. But when he stepped in to take more of a role later in this season, Freeze said he felt he wasn’t able to put the focus he wanted into recruiting.

Should he in fact take on play calling duties, he’ll no longer have to play that juggling act anymore and the recruiting responsibility will be spread across more shoulders. Having now landed a top-10 recruiting class for the 2024 cycle and off to a quick start in the 2025 class, Freeze is going to shift his focus to the roster he already has going into next season.

But Nix’s Ole Miss contract includes a clause that he does not owe a buyout if he leaves for a head coach or coordinator job where he is calling plays. The letter Ole Miss posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, described Nix as having a “full-time” play calling duty.

Nix has not called plays before.

Auburn’s press release did not discuss play-calling.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]