AZ says Ducks to use former Auburn football HC Gus Malzahn’s offense

As Auburn football’s quarterback battle is underway on the Plains between TJ Finley, Robby Ashford, Zach Calzada, and Holden Geriner, there is one other quarterback battle that many Tigers fans are keeping an eye on during the offseason.

In the Pacific Northwest, former Auburn football quarterback Bo Nix is fighting against Ty Thompson to secure his role as the Oregon Ducks’ QB1 in 2022 following his transfer from the Plains.

Nix revealed that one of his top reasons for choosing to make the move to Oregon was to reunite with and play for his freshman year offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. According to fellow FanSided site Autzen Zoo, Dillingham plans to implement an offense similar to that of former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn:

"The system itself is a descendent of the Gus Malzahn offense. It all started when Malzahn was the offensive coordinator at Tulsa. The system was then passed down to Chad Morris, and then to Mike Norvell and now to Dillingham. Each subsequent coach has put their own spin on the offense, and Dillingham and Norvell’s is the pro-style passing game."

While Nix was definitely pushed outside of his comfort zone in his one year under the coaching of Bryan Harsin and Mike Bobo, Dillingham’s Malzahn-based system at Oregon will likely be far more appealing to the former Auburn QB.

Autzen Zoo reports that Dillingham’s system will be a versatile, pro-style offense that involves playing very quickly, something that Malzahn was known for trying to implement on the Plains. When it comes to the quarterbacks, Dillingham is looking for an explosive quarterback that can make plays with his feet, which we saw glimpses of from Nix in 2021.

Gus Malzahn’s offense was not always highly-favored by the fans of Auburn football, but perhaps Dillingham will find a way to make it successful with the Oregon Ducks.