After being gifted a commemorative guitar from the representatives of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, both Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze and Maryland head coach Mike Locksley settled into their seats to take part in a joint press conference Friday afternoon from Nashville’s Opryland Resort.

Together, the two head coaches previewed Saturday afternoon’s Music City Bowl, which will kick off at 1 p.m. from Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.

Here’s everything Freeze had to say:

OPENING STATEMENT: Thank you all for being here, first. To the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, what a week it’s been. You’ve just been so classy in how you’ve handled our teams and our staffs and our wives. Just everything has been first class. Scott (Ramsey), just thank you again. It’s our second time here for me, and I think you’ve improved even from a really, really good one the time before. So thank you. I know Brian’s here, I think, one of the board members too. We appreciate the whole board for what they’ve done. It’s been a good experience in Nashville, and we’re excited to represent Auburn and our conference, the SEC, in this game tomorrow against a really, really quality opponent in Maryland from a great conference also that has a coach that I have great respect for that always treated me with class and respect and also does a heck of a job coaching his team. Our kids are excited. It’s a different world now for me with the opt-outs and the transfer portal and things. We’ll have a different team tomorrow than we had at the end of the season, but in some ways, that’s exciting to kind of see how they perform. So we’re excited about tomorrow’s opportunity.

ON THE HEALTH OF AUBURN’S TEAM HEADING INTO THE GAME: Yeah. Our doctor’s report was all but one, the fever has broken. I don’t know how strong they’ll be and things. They’ll have to hydrate really well today, but it’s kind of like everything else we’re dealing with, the opt-outs. You can’t control some things. But I do think I had a good report this morning that most everybody was feeling better. I’m sure, if at all possible, they’ll give it a go.

ON DEALING WITH OPT-OUTS: When Coach Locksley was talking about just the ebbs and flows of these opt-outs, it gives me a greater appreciation too, and I’m sure he would say the same, of those kids that are finishing. I applaud them. I told them in our team meeting this morning, guys, I’m not trying to beat up anybody. People have to make their own choices, and our choices make us. But there’s many in probably both of our locker rooms that, man, I want to finish. I just respect that. I’m also excited, like him, to see the younger guys. I’m afraid of how they’ll tackle all his receivers and stuff because they haven’t tackled since fall camp. We don’t tackle in practice anymore. Now we’re fixing to play a bunch of DBs that haven’t probably tackled anybody to the ground since then. So that will be interesting to see how we do with that. Somebody asked me this morning about his quarterback situation, and I said, well, I turned on the TV yesterday and there were two guys that hadn’t taken any snaps and they threw for like 400 yards. It’s just about opportunities. I think we both are kind of excited to see how kind of the start of the ‘24 team will look tomorrow.

ON THE ADDITION OF CAL TRANSFER SAM JACKSON V: Our focus was entirely on the high school recruiting leading up to signing day, and I didn’t want to do anything that compromised that. I don’t know that I’m right in that approach, but it’s just I think I’m better at long-term relationship recruiting than I am — I’m not doing real well in the speed dating portal. I just haven’t done real well in that. So we put our whole focus on that, and then obviously from there, you do have to — managing a roster these days is impossible. You can say you’re going to build it through high school, but then you have ten guys of yours going through the portal, and you didn’t recruit enough high school guys to get to your 85. Now we do have to start filling in the holes with portal recruiting. I got to witness Sam obviously live this year as we played, and he initially went in and was a two-time transfer. So I didn’t think that was something that we could do. Then obviously the new legislation that came down a few days ago, I guess. It’s a risk probably, but I think he’s one heck of an athlete. I watched all of his high school receiving stuff, and he obviously caught balls from Payton Thorne, which I think there’s some chemistry there. I think he has the possibility — I don’t know, as you watch even the NFL now, I think they’re starting to do more things, like Locksley and I do, with these receivers coming into the backfield and doing different things. He, to me, gives me a lot of flexibility in that regard to be able to do that.

ON THE CONTINUITY OF AUBURN’S COACHING STAFF: Well, continuity is invaluable. Driving the same culture, the same voice from the staff rooms to the position rooms, and hopefully from the position rooms to the locker rooms is when you get to be a special team. It starts with the staff believing the same things and saying the same things and not wavering from those. So continuity is always invaluable. The time — we live in times where I doubt very seriously that all of the coaching changes are over. It’s probably just now getting ready to pick up. Who knows exactly what everybody’s staff will look like in a month from now. No matter what ours, if it looks exactly the same or if it looks differently, the message will be the same. We’ve got to find that continuity. I don’t know how Coach Locks feels, but I don’t know that I ever feel like I took over a program and I got every single hire in the whole building right the first time because you’re just so crazy with recruiting. So I think there’s always the evaluation from our chair of can we improve ourselves some way.

ON HOW HE’S VIEWING AUBURN’S OPPORTUNITY IN THE MUSIC CITY BOWL: I think it’s both for me. When I say it’s the capsulating, last game for the Kam Stutts and the Gunner Brittons who have given so much to this program. Many of them are not going to be have an NFL future, but they have a degree. They’re getting to go out the way they want to go out and finish for Auburn and for their teammates. So I celebrate that. Then we’ve got all freshmen DBs starting tomorrow. So it is absolutely in my mind for them kind of the start of the ‘24 year. It’s kind of both for me truthfully.

ON AUBURN DECIDING NOT TO USE IN-HELMET COMMUNICATION IN THE BOWL GAME: Locks called me, and I immediately said absolutely, man. Let’s do that. I have zero problem with them doing that. Then sometimes discussions happen above you that you don’t — that you’re not really in, and I’m full steam ahead recruiting at that point and really didn’t have time to enter into all those discussions. I just think we as a league want to be unified in kind of how we move forward. Truthfully, I’m not really sure where it stands, but we are using the tablets, but just chose not to at this point use the helmet communication.