Nixon Went from Huskers to Huskies to Run the Ball
The new University of Washington coaching staff clearly has its own vision of who's who and how the football landscape should look.
Kalen DeBoer's guys closely scrutinized the roster it inherited and made half of the players drop weight and everyone else greatly improve their fitness.
They took one look at mammoth offensive guard Ulumoo Ale and decided he was a defensive tackle.
And, in the case of Will Nixon, they saw a productive running back whereas Nebraska was insistent that he was a wide receiver.
For that reason, the 5-foot-11, 192-pound Nixon departed the Big Ten for the Pac-12, just when USC and UCLA were doing the opposite.
"I really wanted my opportunity at running back," Nixon said. "They said be ready to catch the ball from the backfield and maybe go to the slot a few times, and that's what I'm looking for."
Will Nixon will run the ball for the Huskies.
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He's also the learned son of Jeff Nixon, an NFL running-backs coach for the Carolina Panthers and a former college runner for West Virginia and Penn State, and it only made sense that the younger Nixson should play the position himself.
After rushing for 1,837 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior for Midway High School in Waco, Texas, Nixon showed he had considerable ability in this readjusted college role.
"He's got a really diverse skill set and that's what we want in the running-back position, and that's when we really feel we're best," DeBoer said. "He's just a guy who will find his way on the field, I think, because he so diverse in these areas."
Nixon had a built-connection to the Huskies because wide-receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard had tried to recruit him to Purdue, and they reopened this connection when Nixon entered the transfer portal.
He spent two seasons at Nebraska, one injured, and the Cornhuskers wouldn't commit to giving him a running-back tryout, so he left.
Since Husky fall camp opened this month, Nixon has drawn significant snaps from the outset so the coaches could see what he can do, and he's impressed them.
"He's a special athlete," DeBoer said.
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Nixon feels encouraged and confident with the ball always in his hands.
"Physical, that wasn't a problem — I run downhill," he said. "I've just got to be ready mentally all the time."
That would match the Husky coaching staff, which is working overtime in how it thinks about all things football.
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