Gus Malzahn hopes to identify Auburn’s starting quarterback ‘early in fall camp’

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Over the course of 15 spring practices, Auburn narrowed its quarterback race down from four candidates to twofrontrunners — a 1 and 1A in freshmen Joey Gatewood and Bo Nix.

Gus Malzahn hopes the rest of the competition can be sorted out pretty quickly once practices resume in August as the Tigers open fall camp in preparation for the 2019 season, which begins with a key nonconference showdown against Oregon on Aug. 31 in Arlington, Texas.

“The first thing we got to do is identify our starter,” Malzahn said Monday before speaking at the AMBUSH Tour stop in Columbus, Ga. “We narrowed it down to two, so hopefully we’ll be able to do that early in fall camp.”

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While Malzahn did not give an exact timeline for naming a starter among the two finalists, he indicated that as a coach it becomes evident pretty early on how things will shake out once practices begin.

A lot of that, he said, takes shape during the summer offseason months. It’s during these months, when coaches’ interactions with players are limited as they go through offseason conditioning and player-only drills, that the foundation is truly set for the upcoming season — a time when Gatewood and Nix can build a rapport with their offensive teammates, particularly the skill position players, and take command of the offense from a leadership standpoint.

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“They're learning how to lead,” offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham said in April. “Leading through a dynamic of competition with four men is very difficult. We're looking to give a few guys a platform, an ability to lead. I think we have guys who have that trait."

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Malzahn on Monday again stressed the importance of these offseason months in that regard.

“I think it’s really good for those two young guys, because we can’t be out there with the ball and all that, so it gives them an opportunity to really work on their leadership skills in front of their teammates,” Malzahn said. “A lot of the times, that’s when teams grow—without the coaches. We do have really, really strong leadership on both sides of the football, so it gives those two guys a chance to develop themselves and establish themselves as a leader and take charge. I think it’s a good thing

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“As far as what we’re hearing and all that, it’s kind of one of those deals where as a coach, you kind of just wait until you get out there in fall camp and you usually know pretty quick how things stand and from a leadership standpoint.”

Whichever quarterback takes command of the offense in that regard and emerges in fall camp, the Tigers will still be going with a first-time starter in the season opener. It will be the first time since 2013, when Nick Marshall won the starting job, that Gus Malzahn will break in a first-time starter during Week 1.

It will also be the first time Malzahn has starter a freshman at quarterback since Jeremy Johnson made a spot start for Marshall that same season in 2013. While Gatewood is a redshirt freshman who made his only appearance last season in mop-up duty during the Music City Bowl, Nix is a true freshman who enrolled this spring. Auburn has never started a true freshman quarterback in a season opener before.

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The Tigers’ inexperience at the position is not lost on Malzahn, who knows it’s on him to put the quarterback—or quarterbacks, should both see the field against Oregon—in the best position to succeed.

“I think the good thing is that we’re going to be a really veteran team around them, and I think that will help them, but that is the reality — the guy’s going to be out there playing his first real college football game against one of the better teams in all of college,” Malzahn said. “We’ll have a plan for him. We’re going to rely on the guys around him. We got an experienced team; I really think we have a hungry team, and I think that’s really one of the main things you look for as a coach.”

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