Auburn football parent reacts to phone call from Hugh Freeze and staff

The Auburn football team may not have played a game last weekend, but the players and the staff made full use of the bye week. There was plenty of recruiting to be done, but it was also a time of self-reflection in the absence of having to plan for a game.

Auburn football tight end Luke Deal noted that the bye week was extremely important for the team. Players got the chance to return to the fundamentals in practice and those dealing with injuries were able to focus on getting healthy ahead of the LSU matchup this weekend.

One of the things that head coach Hugh Freeze and the other members of the coaching staff took on during the bye week was sitting down and talking to players’ parents. Each parent got a phone call, and Freeze reported that the feedback was mostly positive, per The Montgomery Advertiser:

"“I think that’s a great practice to do,” Freeze said at his weekly press conference Monday. “You have to be prepared. You’re hearing the good and the bad. I think that’s healthy. I think that’s good. They know we care. … It would be impossible for me to personally call all of them. The position coach and that staff, their assignment was calling everyone and then getting me the ones I need to touch base with.”"

It’s another big change that Freeze has implemented on the Plains, which is particularly of note if you remember that former Auburn football player Smoke Monday had major beef with former head coach Bryan Harsin for not knowing his parents’ names.

Todd Johnson, father of offensive lineman Tate Johnson, posted his thoughts on the experience via his account on X, formerly Twitter:

The effort to get parent feedback is another sign that Freeze is trying to build a strong program, and that things can only get better on the Plains over the next couple of years.