Just over 24 hours before leading their teams onto the turf of Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze and Maryland head coach Mike Locksley first sat shoulder to shoulder at a small table fixated in a small room somewhere in the depths of the sprawling Opryland Resort.

Joint press conferences are commonplace ahead of bowl games. And for some head coaches, it can be a bit uncomfortable to field questions about an upcoming game in the presence of the opposing coach.

But in the case of Freeze and Locksley, there was nothing uncomfortable about Friday afternoon’s press conference.

Locksley joked that his daughter Kori’s allegiance to Auburn led to an underwhelming Christmas morning for her.

“I don’t know if you know this, Hugh, but my daughter is an Auburn grad,” Locksley said of Kori, who played on Auburn’s women’s soccer team from 2017-21. “She didn’t get a lot of Christmas gifts, but I hope she’s not rooting for you if she wants the car payment paid for.”

Later in the press conference, the two joked about the availability of Auburn’s new wide receiver transfer in Sam Jackson V, who recently transferred in from Cal, where he played quarterback for the Golden Bears.

“He’s not playing tomorrow, right?” Locksley cracked after hearing Freeze gush about Jackson’s potential.

Freeze and Locksley’s interaction appeared natural. Being pleasant and complimentary of one another didn’t feel forced.

That’s because the two go back a little ways.

“I know Coach Locksley fairly well,” Freeze said during his press conference on Dec. 16. “In the two years I took off, I spent some time there with him when he was up the road at Alabama.”

Right as Freeze was making his turbulent exit from Ole Miss ahead of the 2017 season, Locksley was taking over as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama – a job Freeze was reportedly considered for.

Nonetheless, with Freeze no longer coaching at another SEC program and Locksley fresh off a promotion from offensive analyst to offensive coordinator, Saban didn’t waste time before introducing the two offensive minds.

“It started with (Nick) Saban,” Locksley said. “Coach Saban has a lot of respect for Hugh, as well as myself.”

As Locksley recalls, he and Freeze had “a nice, long meeting” and “shared some offensive philosophical things.”

For two seasons, Locksley served as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator before being hired away to take the head coaching job at Maryland in 2019. In the same stretch of time, Freeze stayed removed from the game until being hired as head coach at Liberty University in 2019.

Now, the pair will face off as head coaches for the first time as Freeze’s Tigers and Locksley’s Terrapins meet in the Music City Bowl on Saturday afternoon at 1.

And while both coaches are looking to add a win to their respective team’s 2023 record, there won’t be love lost between the two.

“It’s all about relationships,” Locksley said. “I’ve gotten to know Hugh really well and one of the guys I respect in this business.”