David Pollack dismisses narrative around Auburn’s offensive play-calling

Earlier this month, Auburn offensive coordinator Derrick Nix revealed he won’t be the team’s sole play-caller on offense this season. In fact, quarterbacks coach Kent Austin will call the team’s plays on third downs, while head coach Hugh Freeze always has the authority to overturn either of them.

Nix received some backlash from fans, who claimed the team could suffer from conflicting voices leading the offense. However, college football expert David Pollack believes there’s no reason to be concerned about Auburn’s play-calling system.

“I feel like everything Auburn does right now is probably looked at in a negative light,” Pollack said on his podcast, See Ball Get Ball. “They’re not getting positive attention. And the way they’ve played the last five years, they’ve probably earned some of that.

“But, the coordinator thing, where they’re going to have different coordinators, and they might have different coordinators at different times, and kind of being an advantage, kind of playing multiple quarterbacks — interesting non story to me. It’s absolutely a non-story. You’ve had run game coordinators in the past. You’ve had short-yardage guys in the past. You’ve had all that stuff that’s not anything that’s groundbreaking. If it wasn’t at Auburn, it’d probably be no big deal.”

This season is Nix’s second as Auburn’s offensive coordinator. The Tigers reportedly had a similar offensive structure last season, and included collaboration between multiple coaches.

The system worked for the Tigers, who averaged 429.4 total yards of offense per game, the 28th-most in the country. At SEC Media Days this summer, Freeze expressed confidence in Auburn’s offensive play-calling.

“I don’t really care who gets the credit. Whoever has the hot hand, whoever has the best idea at the time, it ultimately all comes through me, and I can veto something,” Freeze said. “But man, there’s no egos in that room at all, and I love the chemistry of our staff right now.”

Auburn’s offensive coaches aren’t the only ones who will have to work together this fall. The Tigers are returning six starters on offense from last season, but will be led by transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold. With a combination of new and old, Auburn will look to have its best season yet under Hugh Freeze.

On Aug. 29, Auburn will kick off its 2025 campaign with a showdown against Baylor at 8 p.m. ET. The game will air live on FOX.