Auburn football's Hugh Freeze offers idea for spring game: 'Allow us to scrimmage somebody'
AUBURN — For most college programs around the country, spring games are a glorified practice.
Auburn football is no different. The Tigers will take the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday to put a bow on the first spring practice of the Hugh Freeze era on the Plains. And while there may be an exciting moment or two, it'll likely be a low-stress environment with the players moving slower, not wanting to hurt one another.
But Freeze has a solution: allow two separate programs to scrimmage against one another.
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"I think everybody would get out of it exactly what they want," Freeze said Monday. "... And let’s adopt a charity to give all the proceeds to. Let’s take foster care in the state of Alabama or orphan care in the state of Alabama and let’s all (play).
"Alabama can play Troy and we play UAB or vice versa, or whoever, I don’t care. Alabama State or whoever. People will come see that. And you’re decreasing your injury possibilities by 50%. And coaches are smart enough to control – we’re not going to hit each other's quarterbacks, we practice that way. If you want to put a blue jersey or a different jersey that (means) don’t take (that player) to the ground, we can do that. I just think it would be great for the sport."
Freeze pointed out how high school teams play scrimmages before their seasons begin and the NFL has the preseason.
“I think it’d be awesome. ... For the life of me, I just don’t understand why we haven’t gotten to the point where we can pull that off and do something that’ll be helpful to some organization in each state," he said. "If every state did this, man, we could make an impact on some people that need it. That would be my idea."
Freeze added: “No. 1, you don’t want to get anybody hurt. And you know that everybody is probably videotaping your signalers and everything else that’s going on. So, it’s just kind of an uncomfortable day.
"So, what do I want to get out of it? I want our fans to be excited about the momentum that is being created here. Do we still have a ways to go? Yes. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be excited about where we are currently. And somehow, I’ve got to try to figure out a way where all of those things can occur.”
Freeze said he's had the idea of scrimmaging against another team since his days at Ole Miss, but it's never caught on.
“I guess I’m the only one that’s kind of interested in it," he said. "But to me, it makes too much sense not to do it."
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Hugh Freeze: Auburn football coach wants to end spring with scrimmage
