This is an opinion column.

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Here’s a fun fact about Bo Nix, the newly anointed king of Colorado.

Nix was named the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos after his second game of the preseason. He’s now the second Alabama native (behind Jameis Winston) to be named an NFL starter his first year out of college.

Not so fun fact: Nix had to leave Auburn and transfer to Oregon to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a first-round pick.

Auburn, where great quarterbacks go to be browbeaten and demoralized by unrealistic expectations?

It’s not exactly the kind of reputation second-year coach Hugh Freeze needs these days while he’s trying to rebuild a broken program. It’s the truth, though, and it was earned.

Now to learn from those mistakes.

Auburn hasn’t even played its first game of the season, but I’ve already heard plenty of gripes and arguments from onlookers for Freeze to bench Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne and instead throw freshman Walker White into the starting lineup.

The thinking is this. If Auburn is still in a rebuilding phase, and aiming to be a contender by next season, then why not just start the quarterback of the future from the very beginning?

I have to be completely honest. After watching last season, and the way Auburn’s offense looked from week to week, I didn’t think Thorne would even be in Auburn this summer, never mind start another game on the Plains.

But Thorne is the starter, and so I find myself reflexively wincing in pain all over again when thinking about that game against New Mexico State.

Freeze cleaned house after 2023’s hell ride through the desert. There’s a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterbacks coach and Freeze even waved so long to beloved former Auburn running backs coach Cadillac Williams.

Freeze is going with the same quarterback, though. It’s a curious pattern.

Part of me thinks that Freeze owes it to Thorne to give him another shot after taking so many lumps for the team last season. If nothing else, Thorne proved that he’s a tough football player in his first season in the SEC. His ability as a passer needs work, but he’s not afraid to stick his nose into the fray.

Freeze neglected the offense last year while dedicating most of his energy to recruiting and raising money. It had to be done, and Thorne paid his dues. With Auburn now running in the right direction, it sounds like Freeze is going to be more hands-on in 2024.

With arguably the most improved receiving corps in the SEC, Thorne will be surrounded with plenty of options. If only Bo Nix had it so good while he was at Auburn.

I’m happy for Nix’s initial success in the NFL. He needed to leave Auburn to complete his growth as a quarterback (and play behind offensive lines that could protect him). Being named a starting quarterback as a rookie is no guarantee for NFL success, but Nix started for five long years in college.

And when we say long years, we mean that 2019 feels like 1,527 years ago.

If memory serves, Nix started his first game for Auburn, too. He led the Tigers to a come-from-behind victory against No.10-ranked Oregon. That was way back when the SEC was a conference of exclusively Southern schools and the Pac-12 was rolling along without a care in the world.

I remember walking out of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and thinking that I had just witnessed the beginning of an incredible ride for Auburn’s phenom of a quarterback. It was right, but for all the wrong reasons.

There were a lot of Auburn fans who didn’t think Nix was good enough to start for the Tigers, crazy as that seems. Looking back, it turns out Nix was just too good for the team he grew up loving. It’s important to remember Nix’s early struggles at Auburn here at the beginning of a new era of college football.

Part of me wants to see the freshman quarterback immediately, but then I remember what Nix went through when things got bad. Maybe redshirting White isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Derrick Nix is Auburn’s new offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He coached with Freeze back at Ole Miss. Freeze hired Nix away from Kiffin’s Ole Miss staff. Nix spoke with reporters on Wednesday and mentioned that it was “refreshing” to be back together with Freeze.

I’m not sure that was an indirect shot at Kiffin, but it sounded like it with the right ears. Derrick Nix is an experienced assistant, but this is his first year as an offensive coordinator.

Derrick Nix mentioned something else during his news conference that caught my attention. Every day as new coordinator, he said, has felt like a learning experience.

It took that to mean that Freeze has been more involved with the offense. Let’s hope so. No matter how hard we try, it’s hard to be patient in the SEC.

MAILBAG

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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”