Hugh Freeze picks gratitude as the theme for 2024 fall camp

Auburn finished 2023 a six-win season for the third time in four years under during head coach Hugh Freeze’s inauguaral season.

Given the long-standing success the Tigers’ football program has enjoyed, something has been missing in Auburn over the last few years. Now that fall camp is underway, Freeze, in his second-year as head coach, revealed the theme for the final stages of the preseason. He wants his players to embody the word — gratitude.

“It’s a word I think we probably all could use a little more think when we operate with the not to be morbid or create any type of fear, but the brevity of life is accurate, it’s true,” Freeze said. “It’s real and my clocks ticking. I’ve probably lived over two-thirds of my life. I should be grateful for every single day that I have. And you combine that with all the many blessings that Auburn has blessed me, our staff and our players with, it should be received with gratitude.”

Being grateful for what you have can get lost on everybody from time to time, and with the regular season beginning withing the month — the Auburn headman believes it’s the perfect time to ingrain the term into his player’s minds.

Freeze said that he addressed three main points that conflict with gratitude during the speech to his team — gossip, presumption of pride, and security and comfort. Everyone has to work together, unselfishly, to attain consistent success.

“As a parent you want your kids to grow, to be independent and you go from changing their diapers and feeding them bottles to hopefully they’ll be able to feed themselves,” Freeze said. “And ultimately become adults and live their lives accordingly. But building a team, you kind of want the exact opposite.

“You want to be dependent upon each other to meet the standard that that we’ve all agreed upon, and the great teams I think do that. And I think there’s kind of three, you know, maybe unconscious presumptions of pride that we all have.”

With this in mind, the Tigers are set to begin their 2024 regular season against in-state foe Alabama A&M before hosting Cal, who is set to begin its venture into the ACC this season. They will begin SEC play in Week 4 against Arkansas at home — where they’ll play their first five games of the season, including a matchup against Oklahoma in Week 5.