JD PicKell: Kenny Dillingham will help Bo Nix succeed in Oregon offense

Bo Nix is Oregon‘s newest quarterback, and he is trying to accustom to the Ducks as the regular season continues to inch closer. But as Nix tries to get used to life at Oregon, he has at least one familiar face there in new Ducks offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham.

Dillingham was Auburn‘s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2019, which was Nix’s freshman season with the Tigers. That year, he threw for 2,542 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, adding 313 yards and seven additional scores with his legs.

In a recent episode of The Hard Count, On3’s J.D. PicKell said that he believes the familiarity Nix will have with Dillingham will prove to be a great asset for Oregon in 2022.

“First and foremost, he has Kenny Dillingham there as his offensive coordinator,” PicKell said of Nix. “Why is that important? Well there’s some familiarity there between Nix and Dillingham. And when you transfer into a new program, it is a whole lot of new. Just, I mean think about this new drive to class, new walk to the locker room, new uniforms, new colors, new surroundings. Everything is new. And new can be a good thing, I’m gonna tell you about that in a minute. But it’s also a really hard thing.”

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Having Dillingham will let Nix pick up where he left off

In three years of college football, Nix has thrown for 7,251 yards, 39 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while completing 59.4 percent of his pass attempts. He also has 869 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground.

But transitioning to a brand new program is no easy feat for anybody. Luckily for Nix, Dillingham’s presence could allow him to simply pick back up right where he left off.

“So to have your guy as the offensive coordinator who you’re familiar with, to have some inkling of familiarity is a really big deal for Bo Nix,” PicKell continued. “Because it’s ultimately going to allow him to pick up where he left off is my belief. That’s huge. That cannot be overstated. To have some sort of momentum already walking on a campus when everything else around you is so new, that’s going to be comforting and I think play well to his maturation process. So that’s huge. I feel like I’ve said it too many times, that is a big deal.”

After the 2019 season, Dillingham became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida State, where he spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He has also previously worked at Memphis and Arizona State.