This is an opinion column.

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The long winter is over for teams in the SEC. For the first time in 18 years, spring football is here without Nick Saban coaching the Crimson Tide.

In the state of Alabama, it means different things to different people. For Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, life has never been better.

Freeze is friends with Saban. They share the same sports agent. Nearly a decade ago, Saban wanted to hire Freeze after Freeze was forced to step down at Ole Miss. On Thursday, which was Auburn’s second day of spring practice, Freeze began his day with a phone call to his old rival.

“I actually talked to him this morning because next week is spring break and we’re trying to arrange a little golf match,” Freeze said.

When Saban retired, Freeze apparently gained a golfing buddy.

Hopefully Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin join the group to celebrate Saban’s retirement. Saban shaped college football in about 100 different ways. One of the biggest was his impact on coaching throughout the SEC. His influence on the game is going to last a long time.

What does that mean for the power dynamic in the SEC? We’re about to find out.

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A lot has changed in college football since January. Teams are strapping on the pads once again, but they’re doing it in a world where Saban will be a football analyst for ESPN. It’s going to be different, and there is an opportunity for Freeze’s Tigers to take advantage of the power vacuum.

Give Freeze credit for not shying away from the moment. He understands what’s at stake this spring and he addressed it head-on when I asked him about how the toughest league in sports is different without Saban on the sidelines. It’s not just the Iron Bowl rivalry, but the biggest game of all is already on Freeze’s mind this spring.

Saban is out at Alabama, but Freeze is familiar with Alabama’s new coach, Kalen DeBoer. That feels like a slight advantage for Auburn compared to other teams in the SEC.

“I’ve known Kalen a long time,” Freeze said. “We were both in NAIA together. I was at Lambuth and he was at Sioux Falls, so I’ve known him for a long time and he’s a great human being and a great football coach that has some big shoes to fill. But I respect him and the job that he’ll do.

“You definitely feel like it could all be fool’s gold without hard work and success, but you do feel like there might be an opening to capitalize on why not Auburn right now. And that will be our message and I’m sure they will have a strong message, too. Both will still get good players.

But it is a different feel knowing Nick’s not in the game right now.”

Anticipation and excitement are the feelings running through Auburn. It’s a new era in more ways than one. Auburn went through four coaches during Saban’s mighty reign at Alabama. Freeze was the fifth. Before Saban arrived in the state, Auburn dominated the rivalry. Is the pendulum about to swing again?

Why not Auburn? Give Freeze respect for saying it aloud for all to hear. It’s one of the biggest questions of the spring in the SEC.

The Tigers have hit the reset button in preparation of the most important set of spring practice in years. Players have formed a “culture council” to hold each other accountable. Punishments sound pretty severe.

“We don’t look at it as punishment,” Deal said. “We look at it as enrichment.”

That made me laugh. Deal is going to make a great coach one day.

Freeze convinced the veteran tight end to return to school for his sixth season of college football. That tells you all you need to know about the current attitude on the Plains. He didn’t do it to go 6-7 and lose to Maryland in the Music City Bowl.

“You already see some of the positive effects,” Deal said. “Guys who you wouldn’t see being bought in at this point are already bought in.”

As for the quarterback competition, Deal already has some thoughts on freshman Walker White.

“He’s got a cannon for an arm,” Deal said. “It’s going to be a fun battle to watch.”

Freeze said his word for 2024 is “truth.” That’s the culture that Auburn’s coach wants created this spring. In assessing his first year at Auburn, Freeze said one thing stood out above the rest.

“Why couldn’t I reach that group?” he said. “We should have won a couple more games.”

The easy answer is that a lot of those players needed to cycle out of the system. The tougher truth is that maybe some of the coaches needed to leave Auburn in a quest for personal growth. It’s going to be different not having Cadillac Williams and Zac Etheridge around, but maybe different is exactly what Auburn needs in 2024.

Here’s some truth to go along with that feeling of change overtaking the SEC this spring. According to one oddsmaker, Alabama is predicted to finish fifth in the SEC behind Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

It’s a new day in the SEC. For Auburn, spring’s rebirth is here after the freeze.

SOUND OFF

Got a question about spring football in the SEC or college basketball? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe a question about what’s on your mind for the weekly mailbag. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the signature book about Nick Saban’s reign at Alabama, “We Want Bama”.