Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge” plays at LSU’s Tiger Stadium twice during home games – once before kickoff and once at the start of the fourth quarter.

But because he’ll be in the middle of coaching a football game when the song is played the second time, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze takes his time returning to the locker room after pregame warmups in an effort to listen to LSU’s anthem play over the speakers of Tiger Stadium.

“I love hearing Callin Baton Rouge from Garth Brooks before the game,” Freeze said Monday. “I think that’s a neat experience, and I try to stay out there to hear that.”

And during his time on the SEC Coaches’ Teleconference Wednesday afternoon, Freeze’s affinity for the country music singer was brought up again.

“I like Garth Brooks,” Freeze joked when asked about why he enjoys playing on the road in one of the conference’s more difficult road environments. “So I guess that’s part of it also.”

Freeze went on to say that he’s been to “several” Garth Brooks concerts and that he admires Brooks’ showmanship.

“He puts on a great show. I think he has a unique ability to make everybody in the audience feel like he honors you, which I think is a very attractive quality in people.”

As if Freeze’s time on the teleconference hadn’t gone far enough off the rails in terms of actually discussing Auburn’s approaching game against the No. 22 team in the country, Freeze’s Garth Brooks not only continued, but it also took an interesting turn.

Those same attributes Freeze sees and admires in Garth Brooks, he sees in Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl.

“Bruce Pearl has that same quality,” Freeze said. “Just makes you feel honored by him.”

Needless to say, hearing Freeze compare Pearl to Garth Brooks Wednesday came as a shock at is wasn’t on many people’s Bingo cards.