Oregon coach Dan Lanning shares his message to NFL teams about Bo Nix

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is at Senior Bowl practice this week, watching former Ducks quarterback Bo Nix and other players he has coached.

Lanning joined the NFL Network during Thursday’s workout and shared his message to NFL teams that are interested in drafting Bo Nix. Lanning feels that wherever Nix ends up, he will immediately make an NFL franchise better.

“I think he’s a winner, but the preparation is one of the things that separates him,” Lanning said. “And the competitive nature. This guy makes everybody better when he steps on the practice field with the way he works and what he demands of the people around him.”

Bo Nix started his career at Auburn, spending three seasons with the Tigers, before transferring to Oregon. He flourished during his time with the Ducks, including putting together a record-breaking season in 2023.

As a senior this past year, Nix completed 77.4 percent of his passes. He threw for 4,508 yards and 45 touchdowns, with only three interceptions. Nix also rushed for 234 yards and six scores, while being named a Heisman finalist.

“There’s a lot special about Bo,” Lanning said. “There’s nobody that takes the game more serious than Bo. He works his tail off to be great, and he’s a great competitor out there on the field.”

Bo Nix explains why he will claim both Auburn, Oregon in the NFL

The NCAA transfer portal has made claiming allegiances a tricky task, and few will understand that better than Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. Nix grew up an Auburn fan, attended Auburn, graduated from Auburn, then went on to Oregon to finish out his playing career.

So which program will Nix claim when the lights are on and the announcements are made on Monday Night Football or the like?

“Well I’ll always be an Oregon Duck, that’s one thing that fortunately for me I was able to go and spend two incredible years there,” Nix said in an interview with the Daily Wire. “So I’m going to claim Oregon for as long as I can. But at the same time I graduated from Auburn too, so I get to claim that part of it too. I spent a lot of games at Auburn too.”

In three years at Auburn, Nix threw for 7,251 yards, with 39 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He also ran for 869 yards and 18 touchdowns.

And while that was highly productive and made Nix one of the better quarterbacks in the conference, Nix still wasn’t superstar, Heisman Trophy finalist Bo Nix. That would come later, with a little development at Oregon.

And the numbers bore out that Nix developed and got significantly better in Eugene.

In just two years he threw for 8,101 yards, with 74 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. He also ran for 744 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Because he was so successful at both places, Nix thinks there’s some nice middle ground in the discussion about which school he claims at the next level.

“I think it’s respectful and OK to claim both, but obviously when you’re doing announcements and stuff, right now I’m from Oregon because that’s the most recent one,” Nix said. “It’s kind of like when you grow up. I moved around a lot as a kid. I don’t say I’m from Charleston even though I lived in Charleston for four years. I just say the most recent high school I was at, and that’s Pinson, Ala.”