Will Stein details approach to building relationship with Bo Nix at Oregon

Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein built a special relationship with Bo Nix during the quarterback’s time with the Ducks.

He helped turn Nix into a first round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2024. Now looking ahead to the fall, Stein has a great crop of quarterbacks (Dillon Gabriel, Dante Moore and Austin Novosad) to work with.

But it all started and was built with Nix.

“I mean there’s pressure, you know, for sure,” Stein said on Andy Staples On3. “I think that’s a good way to put it. But the first thing that I tasked myself with was, let me get to know Bo the person. Let me get to know what makes him tick, let me get to know is his wife, his dad, mom … And when he knows how much I care, he’s gonna allow me to coach him as hard as I want. So that was the initial thing I knew. 

“He was a veteran guy, 23 years old. Guy’s played a ton of ball, played some of the biggest games that you can wrap your head around and college football. So let me know him. And let me build off what he did last season in ‘22 and then try to enhance his game and ways that I saw fit, and then build schemes around him that maybe they didn’t have in ‘22 that I felt could fit him and fit our system.” 

Nix, being a veteran, didn’t need to be handheld throughout the offensive learning process last year. Once Stein found the best fit for him, Nix was “handed the keys to the car.”

“So it just started with getting to know him, building that trust on the personal level, taking it out to the field, experimenting with different concepts, and then learning like what he was taught before,” Stein said. “I think a lot of guys come in and try to shove new schemes down people’s throats. We didn’t reinvent the wheel last year. We took what he was good at (and) we built on that. I think the best thing that Kenny (Dillingham) did and then what I continue to do, which you know which I love as well, is give our quarterbacks the keys to the car. Give them the keys.” 

Last season, Nix put up the best numbers of his career, throwing for 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns, three interceptions and a 77.4% completion percentage. Not to mention the 234 rushing yards and six touchdown runs.

“Dillon has it now, Dante Moore, Austin Novosad, we teach the why behind the plays,” Stein said. “What is negative about a certain concept and then how you can get me as a play caller out of poor calls … So how as a quarterback can you eliminate negative plays … So that’s what Bo had a good grasp around, you know, in ‘22 and I felt like we built on that and then grew even more last year ‘23.”