There's a reason the SEC has the slogan "it just means more." College football is a beloved passion in the South. Whether it's a packed Neyland Stadium, Sanford Stadium, Kyle Field, or elsewhere, fans are particularly fanatical about the level of football played on Saturday.
That being said, it appears that rabid fandom was hard for one particular former Auburn Tiger to handle. Former Auburn and Oregon QB Bo Nix joined Ryen Russillo of the Ringer on his podcast. He had a very interesting response to a question about the biggest difference in being a starter in the SEC versus out West.
"In a sense, the hostility, and maybe unhealthy pressure that is added to 18 to 22 year olds by outside noise and fans," Nix said. "It's almost like an unhealthy obsession in the South. I mean, I was that way growing up. I thought [football] was life or death. And you move out here and you play the game as hard as you can, and you got great passion for the game. It's just a little bit more laid back in a way, and it's a lot more, like, we're proud of the person you are out there on the field. And if you give a great effort and if you try really hard. Obviously, we're out there to win. Nobody goes out there to lose and look bad in front of a bunch of people.
"I think that's the difference, quite frankly, is what is put into college football in the South and then out here football is just a game, and we find the joy in it."
That is a heck of a quote. Translation: the environment at Auburn was too pressure packed and it's more relaxed at Oregon. But then again, it worked out for Nix. He went from Auburn to Oregon and became a legitimate star and Heisman trophy finalist. It was obvious that change of environments was a good one for him.
However, one has to wonder what that means for NFL teams evaluating him. If you're talking about pressure and expectations, it's going to be sky high in a lot of places in the NFL. In a major market, such as New York, or a fanatical football town like Pittsburgh, Green Bay, or Dallas, the media and fans will chew you up and spit you out on Sundays just the same as the SEC (and its fans, apparently) will on Saturdays.
Conversely, Jayden Daniels transferred FROM out West at Arizona State TO LSU, where he won the Heisman Trophy last year and positioned himself as a likely top five pick in this month's NFL Draft.
Apparently, it's not completely impossible to come into the South and thrive after all.
More must-reads: