After Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze and his staff’s success with the recruiting class of 2023 and the incoming transfer class, fans are dying to see what the on-field product looks like and who will be entering the starting lineup this fall.
Earlier this month, the program announced the date for the Tigers’ spring game, A-Day, and just this week Freeze confirmed the starting date for spring practice, which will include quite a few new faces from incoming freshmen and transfers.
According to Auburn Undercover’s Nathan King, Freeze revealed the start date—February 27—to the media at the Alabama Football Coaches Association clinic in Montgomery this morning, and it’s an early starting date compared to years past:
"“It’s going to make our February pretty stressful with trying to get everything installed — with new staffs on each side,” Freeze said. “It’s such a fast turnaround. We’re going to have to grind some in February. Normally you can take kind of a dead period in February to take a break from what we’ve gone through. We can’t do that this February.”"
Spring training is made up of 15 practices, which will take place throughout the months of February and March until it ends with the A-Day scrimmage, which was announced earlier this month to take place on April 8, 2023.
Last year, spring training did not begin until March 14, with the A-Day game falling on April 9. It took place right after the fallout of the plot to get Bryan Harsin fired, and all the buzz was about Harsin and the quarterback competition.
This year, it’s clear that Freeze is on a rebuilding mission as he works to figure out where all the new pieces fall into place on the roster, and as the student athletes begin to learn the styles of coaching and the new offenses and defenses of the staff.