Paul Finebaum says Auburn replacing Bo Nix at QB was 'inevitable'

Auburn has made headlines coming out of Saturday’s victory over Georgia State, but the win has nothing to do with it. During the game, Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin benched quarterback Bo Nix, inserting T.J. Finely in his place. After the game, Harsin fired first year wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has given his take on the sudden changes at Auburn.

Paul Finebaum: Nix’s benching was ‘inevitable’

Nix was the SEC’s Freshman of the Year in 2019. He threw for 2,542 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman, adding 313 yards and seven scores on the ground. Nix threw for 2,415 yards last season with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. So far this season, Nix has completed 63 of his 103 passes for 724 yards and five touchdowns. He hasn’t turned the ball over yet, but Auburn’s offense wasn’t moving the ball well enough.

Nix was frustrated following his benching. But Harsin did what he thought was best to put Auburn in a position to win. The move showed Paul Finebaum that Harsin is willing to do whatever it takes to put his team in a position to win. Finebaum was not surprised to see Nix on the bench.

“From a distance, I like the fact that he’s willing to move forward, not remain status quo,” Finebaum said of Harsin on Monday. “I think everyone connected to that program knew at some point this season, Bo Nix would be coming out. It was inevitable. I didn’t think it would be this past weekend, but nobody could have predicted that.”

Firing Cornelius Williams showed Finebaum that Harsin isn’t willing to wait around at Auburn

Auburn’s wide receivers have seen some serious struggles throughout the season. Tigers wide receivers have dropped nine passes this seasons and struggled all around on offense. Harsin did not like what he saw, so he elected to fire Williams, replacing him with Eric Kiesau, who was with Harsin at Boise State.

The timing of Williams’ firing is a little big surprising, but Finebaum said that it shows that Harsin won’t just sit back and wait for things to get better. The fact that Harsin made the move already actually impresses Finebaum.

“As far as firing the wide receiver coach, I think it shows clearly that Bryan Harsin wants his people around,” Finebaum said of Auburn’s surprising move. “I don’t know what you know and others know of how he put this staff together and what was not so much forced on him but encouraged on him. But clearly, he doesn’t like where things are.

“You can look at this and say this place is in turmoil and it’s coming apart. Or you can look at it and say that he’s taking a good look after four weeks and saying, ‘I don’t like what I see.’ I like the fact that he’s done something. Whether that will mean anything remains to be seen. I don’t think you could be bouncing off walls with optimism after what we all saw Saturday.”

Auburn is 3-1 on the season and ranked No. 22 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll.