Make absolutely no bones about it, Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze is no fan of spring ball getting in the way of what he deems a much more workable preparation itinerary.
“I wish we didn’t have spring ball,” Freeze told a crowd of reporters gathered at the Senior Bowl last week. “I wish we had OTAs in June, and let us put shoulder pads on there for 10 days when you have everybody there. “I wish they could just be with Dom (Studzinski), and work and get their bodies in the best shape of their life and do individual and walk-throughs. Now, I’m not saying not to do any ball, but no hitting.”
As college football inevitably yields to the far more professional approach which the NIL era is ushering in, it sure sounds like Freeze would rather be running a more NFL style training camp where contact is limited.
“I wish we would try that one spring and see if our kids are in better shape, better health, and ready to roll come fall camp,” Freeze suggested. “Give us 10 days in June, and then get back in the weight room for July where we don’t touch them.”
Freeze undoubtedly feels motivated enough to speak his mind, his belief that his young student athletes are putting their bodies under too much pressure is quite frankly bothersome to him.
Setting up his recruits to prepare in the best way possible, not only figures to set them up to succeed in the college ranks, it could also prepare them for the professional ranks.
Truth is, the brutal reality is that injuries and fatigue are something all college programs inevitably have to deal with, so Freeze certainly isn’t forming a minority opinion of one.
Nor is Freeze blaming everyone but himself for the consecutive losing seasons the Tigers have posted under his charge. Freeze is well aware that he must do better under the current working conditions he’s given, even if he’s strongly now pushing for change.
Digging even deeper however, changing the way college programs go about their business is something Freeze strongly advocates, and good on him for speaking his mind.
Having said that, only when more big name coaches speak out about the changes they feel are required to improve the overall product will action eventually be taken further up the food chain.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
