Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze spoke at SEC Media Days at the Omni Hotel in Dallas on Thursday.

Freeze is entering Year 2 at Auburn this season, following up a 6-7 finish in his first year.

Follow along here for updates:

• SEC commissioner Greg Sankey begins to introduce Freeze.
• Freeze takes the podium, thanks the media for being here.
• Freeze talks about how neat it was for him to meet with media and others last night after he arrived
• Freeze says he thinks they’ve upgraded the roster this offseason, mentions that there’s a lot of youth
• Asked about significance of Oklahoma game, Freeze jokingly says “Oklahoma and Texas are joining us? I’ve gotta play Alabama, Georgia and those two?”
• Freeze says he expects the split to be 70% managing the roster and working with the offense and the other 30% on a combination of recruiting and other issues.
• Freeze says the new receivers are going to be critical to the team’s success this season
• Freeze gives praise to Connor Lew, calling him an “NFL center.”
• Freeze praises Percy Lewis, talking about his size and his personality
• Freeze says he is “not the greatest portal recruiter that there is,” but talks about how much he enjoys developing and getting to know players
• When talking about Payton Thorne being more comfortable, Freeze says “He knows he’s gotta produce. We don’t run from that.”
• Freeze calls Auburn a “family atmosphere.” He also talks about how important building lasting relationships is to him in recruiting.
• Freeze says the first word that comes to mind when thinking about Damari Alston is “leader.” He also gives credit to the rest of the running back room.
• Freeze says his prayers are still with Brian Battie as he continues to recover from being injured in a shooting
• When asked about Auburn’s No. 1 strength this season, Freeze says he hopes it’s the run game
• When asked about coach burnout, Freeze said it’s really difficult to manage given how the college football calendar has changed. On his assistant coaches Freeze says he “thinks he gets them out of there as much as possible.”
• Freeze says he hopes they can get some structure that settles the recruiting down a little bit.
• Freeze gives praise to quarterbacks coach Kent Austin, saying he thinks Payton Thorne will see the results of his wisdom. Also mentions Austin’s work with Malik Willis at Liberty
• Freeze says they will use Rivaldo Fairweather in a lot of different ways, says the thinks he’s flying under the radar and one of the most talented tight ends in the SEC