A native of Attalla, a small town just two and a half hours north of Auburn, Derrick Nix was thrilled to join Auburn’s coaching staff as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

“Getting a chance to come here and actually be a part of it and help add to this great tradition, I had to keep pinching myself now that I’m here doing it,” Nix said in March — two months after being hired away from Ole Miss.

His young daughter Ava, on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive about the move, Nix admitted, citing that Oxford, Mississippi was all she’d ever known considering Nix was with the Rebels for 16 years before joining Auburn’s staff.

Now, Ava sings the Auburn Fight Song at home, Nix says.

“I have completely won her over,” Nix told reporters on Thursday. “I think going through the spring game, and then we had an event – Big Cat Weekend – she had a chance to get around and get with some other kids and some of the recruits, she’s getting involved with some of the guys I’m recruiting and getting to know them personally.

“I think she’s all Auburn.”

She gets it from her dad, who grew up rooting for the Tigers and maybe would’ve worn an Auburn football uniform himself, should Terry Bowden have extended an offer to him sooner.

Instead, Nix went on to play his college career at Southern Miss.

But all that matters is that he’s at Auburn now and is set to be a big part of the Tigers’ offense this fall and as important as it was for him to win over his daughter, Nix also had to win over those on Auburn’s offense.

“My thought process going into it was to come in and show these guys that I’m willing to go ahead and work — that I’m willing to put in the time, put in the effort,” Nix said Thursday. “Everything I’m asking them to do, let them know that I want to do it by example first.”

For Nix, that starts with his attitude, his energy and his intensity.

“He definitely brings the energy. He’s fired up every day and it’s fun to play for a guy like that who brings the energy,” Auburn tight end Brandon Frazier said of Nix. “You don’t have to worry about him not having a good day. He’s always bringing other people up.”

Leaders like that are easy to work for.

But leaders like that become easier to work for when they can back it up with knowledge.

“It’s a blessing, to be honest. Coach Nix, he breaks down the whole offense for us,” said Auburn running back Damari Alston. “It’s expanding my game as a running back, just knowing the whole offense and knowing what’s going on up front in the box, with the safety rotations, coverages. He’s just taught us a lot. It’s gonna help me expand my game. It’s gonna show this year.”

On Thursday, when asked where he thought Auburn’s offense was ahead of schedule, Nix said the “overall knowledge.”

“I think actually going through spring and having this summer, the first week of training camp has been a lot of recall for the guys. Now, they’re in a position more how to do things instead of what to do,” Nix said.

When asked to describe the Auburn offense, Nix went on to use the word “consistent.”

“I think we’ve been more consistent than we were this past spring,” he said.