Greg Sankey called the criticism golf narrative following Auburn coach Hugh Freeze “misplaced.”

The SEC commissioner, who joined “The Opening Kickoff on WNSP-FM 105.5, talked about the balance needed in the lives of his football coaches.

“It’s healthy for me to go outside and play golf,” Sankey said. “I think the criticism (of Freeze) is misplaced.”

He relayed a 2004 conversation he had with Steve Spurrier in which he asked the former Florida coach if he played a lot of golf.

“That’s overblown,” Sankey said Spurrier told him. “He said, ‘Look, I’m not going to be in the film room, so I can brag how much film I watch. When I have time, I’m going to go play golf. I don’t do it during the season.’”

For coaches, Sankey said, it is about the peace and balance any activity outside of work brings, whether it is fishing, golf, or coaching your kids.

“Given the stress of football coaches, I think it’s the most healthy thing you can do,” Sankey said.

“Every piece of that is balance in your life. … It doesn’t diminish your coaching ability.”

Sankey, by the way, calls his game “inconsistent.”

He was paired with Georgia coach Kirby Smart at the Regions Pro-Am in the spring.

“He got up to the first tee and crushed it,” Sankey said of the Georgia coach. “After the round, he goes on Finebaum and talks about how great my golf game is.”

As it turns out, he said, it was short-lived.

“I played the six first holes pretty well,” Sankey said. “After that, I’m wildly inconsistent.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.