The texts started first thing when he woke up.

It was Saturday morning, hours before he’d enter Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time on the home sideline. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze opened his phone to see texts from friends in Mississippi and from his jobs at Ole Miss, Liberty and Arkansas State.

Freeze said he had so many family members in town it would be hard to fit them all in his home. He celebrated the day with his family in the morning, but that could only last so long. He had to get to work. It was game day.

At 12:30, Freeze took to South Donahue Drive for his first Tiger Walk. After Aubie and the Auburn cheerleaders came through, it was Freeze leading the football team. He cut through the center of a boisterous crowd that seemed to fill every inch of the pavement, from the exit from the athletics facilities all the way down the block to the entrance of Jordan-Hare Stadium.

This, he said, was his favorite moment of the day.

“Then to show up here for Tiger Walk, which is absolutely incredible,” Freeze said after the 59-14 win over UMass. “It just speaks to the love and passion of the Auburn family. Thank you so much for showing up and celebrating our first win here in our tenure. So thankful for our crowd. Tiger Walk was incredible.”

The optimism around this day centered around Freeze.

His hire was controversial, his second chance in the SEC after an exit in scandal from Ole Miss. Freeze has tried to distance himself from the SEC findings of a “pattern of personal misconduct”, or at least publicly talk about how he’s tried to move forward. Some will never forgive him.

Though the work Freeze has done bringing in a strong transfer portal class and putting together an improved roster for the 2023 season has brought that optimism. Before he even took the field as Auburn’s head coach, he has shown an ability to get this town, to be out in the community and make connections with students on campus and fans in Alabama.

That brought the record-setting crowd of over 88,000 people to Jordan-Hare Stadium, the crowd on Donahue that all clamored for a high-five or a photo with the new head coach. Freeze made sure to make stops along the way to say hi to fans. He seemed to be soaking in the moment.

He passed his family at the end of the walk and entered the stadium. Then he took some time for himself before the game began.

“It really hit this morning as you’re sitting around waiting,” Freeze said. “You try not to have too many meetings with your players because you’ll drive them crazy. I was just kind of alone and reading all of the texts from my family.”

Freeze ran out of the tunnel before the game after a — yes, pun intended — cool “Freeze Warning” branded introductory hype video. It’s the slogan Auburn has used for its 2023 team under a new head coach.

Auburn dominated UMass in the game to start the year 1-0, and at the end, Freeze’s family greeted him once again on the field. He walked off the field with his wife, his daughters and his parents. Freeze said his mom doesn’t move well these days, but he made sure he was able to see her amidst the crowd anyway.

“Just sharing special moments with people that you care about, and want to serve and please, those are pretty special times,” Freeze said. “And I enjoyed going in the student section; that was fun.”

After the game, Freeze and his family went over to Toomer’s Corner. It was the first time the famous oak trees could be rolled since they were planted in 2017. Freeze gathered in the crowd, grabbed a roll of toilet paper and tossed it over the trees.

His first throw wasn’t great, so he got another roll and tried it again, with those in the crowd teaching him how to properly throw the roll. His second try wasn’t much better, so he took another. The third time was, in fact, the charm.

At last, it was time to go home. Freeze said at some point, he hopes to find a restaurant in town as his post-game spot. But this wasn’t that weekend. He wanted to spend the night with his family.

He said they had sandwiches waiting for them back home.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]