Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze, basketball coach Bruce Pearl, and athletic director John Cohen spoke to reporters Tuesday before the first of four stops on Auburn’s Alumni Association’s annual ‘Auburn Ambush’ tour. Freeze, Pearl, and Cohen were in Atlanta at the JW Marriott, with over 300 Auburn alums and supporters in attendance.

Freeze started the day by showing appreciation for recruiting in the Atlanta area.

“Atlanta’s huge for us football-wise, for sure,” Freeze told reporters. “We’ve got to build the majority of our team from the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and obviously within the Atlanta area, there are so many SEC-caliber players that we’ve got to win our share of battles here. So anytime we can get here and continue to enhance or build new relationships with the Auburn family that will be the ones that carry the War Eagle banner around town, I think it’s always a very positive step. I’m anxious to meet some of those people tonight.”

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Pearl’s recruiting prowess in Atlanta is has been highlighted by signings such as Issac Okoro, Walker Kessler, Jabari Smith, and K.D. Johnson. For obvious reasons, Pearl wants to continue the trend.

“Birmingham, I think, as a city, has the most students at Auburn, and then Atlanta is next,” So we’ve got a ton of alums and students that go to Auburn. Like Coach said, this has been an unbelievable place for us from a recruiting standpoint. They play great basketball here.”

Freeze, Pearl, and Cohen addressed several topics concerning Auburn athletics. Here are a few takeaways from the event.

— In hopes of speeding up games, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a rule that will keep the clock running when a team makes a first down, with an exception during the last two minutes of a half. The previous rule had existed since 1968, stopping the game clock after first downs until the referee gave the ready-for-play signal.

Freeze didn’t seem concerned about the rule that will get enacted in the 2024-25 season, in conjunction with the College Football Playoff expanding from four to 12 teams.

“The games do get a little long with the timeouts, and I think that’s just a way — I truthfully don’t see that impacting the game largely,” Freeze said. “That’s just my personal view on it. Others may feel differently. But if it makes the experience for the people that are paying for the tickets and the suites and the ones that we need to support our program to help us build it, then I’m fine with it.”

Cohen shared a slightly different opinion noting how there aren’t as many football games and that fans expect to spend significant time at the stadium.

“Personally, this is a feel thing, not a data-driven thing, but my goodness, you only play seven home football games,” Cohen said. “I don’t think the length of games are necessarily out of control. It’s pageantry. It’s a homecoming almost every time you play a home football game.”

Cohen further acknowledged a different experience for people watching the games at home.

“I think there’s two products,” Cohen said. “There’s the product in-person, and there’s the product on television. And when you watch on television, anything that makes that product better really helps our programs in so many different ways. It’s viewed by the masses, so — They’ll make the right decision.”

Penalties accepted at the end of the first and third quarters will be enforced at the start of the next quarter rather than having an untimed down is another rule change. Back-to-back timeouts during the same dead-ball period going away is the third change designed to reduce plays and speed up games.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to see it go much further than that,” Freeze said. “I think we have a great product, and I hope kind of — I hope they do this if that’s what they see is best, and then we kind of us just — let’s go play the games.”

Will it change how Freeze and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery call games? Freeze didn’t seem worried about it.

“No. I mean, whether the clock starts or doesn’t on a first down, we’re still going to go fast if we want to go fast,” Freeze said. It doesn’t change the rules of the game, so I don’t see a change in our strategy at all.”

— A rule change that could impact Auburn would be more stringent penalties for field-storming after big wins at Southeastern Conference schools. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed a Sports Illustrated report on Tuesday that the conference is considering requiring schools to forfeit a future home game for not stopping fans from storming the field.

Cohen agreed with an increased need for safety.

“Safety has got to be the most important thing,” Cohen said. “There has to be a way to preserve the fun for the fans and create that environment that makes the Southeastern Conference so special — but also provide safety for everybody involved. I feel really confident we can get there.”

In his first season on the Plains, Freeze hopes he can inspire fans to want to rush the field and tear the goalposts after a big win but agrees that safety needs to be at the forefront.

“I hope we have some games that we win soon where people want to storm the field,” Freeze said. “But I hope we have some that it feels like you would want to do that. We would abide by whatever the administration and SEC decide is the safest manner to celebrate.”

— Freeze ended the chat by discussing how he’s adapting to life as the Auburn football coach.

“It’s sometimes daunting. When you wake up at 2 a.m., you’re thinking, ‘Gosh almighty, we have so much to do.’ And you want to get it done so fast for the program and for the people that believed in you to hire you and trust in you,” Freeze said. “All of that weighs on you when you really care, and you want to get it done. But the transition to a place like Auburn, man, who wouldn’t want to live there? It’s a great place to live, and I’m blessed to have my family there. So that’s incredible also. So our transition now that everybody’s settled is it’s go time, and it’s a lot of work to do. But it’s a great place to do it at.”