AUBURN — Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Auburn coach Hugh Freeze aren’t going to let the Iron Bowl rivalry get in the way of a good friendship.
Saban, who retired in January after a 17-season run with the Crimson Tide that featured six national championships and nine SEC titles, has a noted relationship with Freeze, as the latter has previously referenced Saban’s support for him following his ouster from Ole Miss.
The friendship between Freeze and Saban led to the duo getting together to play some golf during Auburn’s spring break in March.
“Nick and I, we were in Jupiter for spring break and played golf together,” Freeze said Wednesday at the Regions Pro-Am in Hoover. “We actually talk fairly regularly now. It’s peaceful. Everybody knows I love Nick and we’re really good friends away from the field when we don’t play each other.”
How’d that golf matchup go?
“Coach Saban can get it in the hole,” Freeze said. “That was back in March when I hadn’t been playing anything. I think he got the best of me, but I look forward to a rematch now that I’m playing someone.”
Freeze and Saban are two celebrities competing in the Pro-Am. Other guests include Georgia coach Kirby Smart, former Auburn coach and current United States senator Tommy Tuberville and Auburn basketball legend Charles Barkley, among others.
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
