A similar question was posed to college football coaches across Alabama this week: Would you prefer to play a spring game against another team, specifically an in-state program, as opposed to the traditional intrasquad scrimmage?

After Auburn’s Hugh Freeze suggested the change on Tuesday, Troy’s Jon Sumrall and UAB’s Trent Dilfer both agreed. The proposal, in theory, boasts a more competitive and enticing matchup for fans and could limit injuries with fewer minutes for starters.

Following the Crimson Tide’s first spring scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium, ‘Bama coach Nick Saban gave his thoughts.

“I didn’t know anything about that,” Saban said. “We’re always interested in helping people any way that we can. If that’s the purpose of what they’re doing, that’s certainly a good thing and we try to do a lot of things to create opportunities for people in our foundation and will continue to do that. If there’s something along those lines in the spring game that would be helpful to somebody, I think it’s a great idea.

“Sometimes in practice when coaches are helping guys, trying to help them do the right things, they can actually depend on somebody telling them what to do. We’d like for them to know what to do, because sometimes you can’t always communicate that, even if it’s another player trying to help a player. I think those kinds of things in scrimmages are really beneficial to young guys that are developing.”

Saban echoed, to a lesser extent, what was said by Sumrall and Dilfer. The idea for the Trojans or Blazers to get a chance to compete against a tough opponent would be a valuable part of the overall health of the sport in the Yellowhammer State.

UAB’s spring game was hosted in Protective Stadium on Thursday night. Auburn’s A-Day is on Saturday, April 8. Troy’s will be on April 15. The Crimson Tide will play against itself on April 22.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].