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They say a smart man knows what he doesn’t know. If that’s true, Hugh Freeze may be the most brilliant football coach in Auburn history. Because a month into his first season on the Plains, it seems he has an awful lot to learn about his football team, his football program, his football program’s rivals — and himself.

With Texas A&M’s tire tracks still fresh and Georgia on its way to take another bite out of Auburn’s pride, Freeze went full Hamlet with his halting uncertainty at Monday’s press conference. His hesitant comments on the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry and other subjects were compelling in their honesty but did nothing to inspire confidence in the fan base.

“It’s the oldest rivalry in the South,” Freeze said. “I don’t know about nationally. Am I saying that correctly?”

Yes. He got that one right, at least.

That was the beginning of Freeze’s soliloquy on trying to beat the opponent “out of love for our people, not necessarily for hate for other people. That’s kinda the way I operate.”