Football, family & fun at Auburn's Ladies Clinic

AUBURN, Ala. – Like many children of his generation, Hugh Freeze knew the rule. If you get spanked at school, expect another one at home.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Independence, Mississippi, the future Auburn football coach walked a straight and narrow path, except for one time in first grade.

“I knew from his demeanor, every mother can know if there’s something wrong,” recalled Rita Freeze, Hugh’s mother. “After three days, he finally told me, he and another little boy were scuffling in the bathroom and the principal gave him one lick.”

Sensing how the incident had affected her middle child, Rita relented from delivering a second serving of discipline.

“I passed on that one,” she said. “I said, ‘You’re fine. You’ve punished yourself more than I could’ve punished you.’”

Joined by her daughter-in-law, Jill Freeze, Rita Freeze shared stories about raising an SEC football coach to more than 300 women Saturday at the third annual Auburn Football Ladies Clinic at the Woltosz Center.

“You’re loyal and true and you travel,” Hugh Freeze said in his opening remarks, before emphasizing what he called his “No. 1 rule for the day.”

“Do not get hurt!” he exclaimed, after giving an autographed hat to an attendee who was injured two years earlier in a drill before returning to the event.

Freeze also acknowledged attendees who had traveled the farthest along with the youngest and most seasoned audience members, and one who has held season tickets since 1969.

“We’re thankful that you’re here,” he said.

After the question-and-answer session with the head coach’s wife and mother, attendees learned about Xs and Os in a presentation from special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford.

After lunch and a group photo, campers split into five groups, rotating between 30-minute sessions on recruiting, defense, offense, equipment and strength and conditioning.

82-year-old Anita Smith won the door prize for the farthest distance traveled, having returned to the Plains from Westsport, Connecticut, to attend with her twin daughters, sisters and a friend.

“I love the camaraderie and all the women who are here showing how much they love Auburn football,” she said.

Smith traces her Auburn fandom to the 1948 resumption of the Iron Bowl series after a 40-year hiatus. Then 5 years old, she recalls sitting on her father’s shoulders as the team returned by train to the depot downtown.

“The train comes rolling in and all the football players get off,” she recalled. “Then we all cheered ‘War Eagle’ for them. It was lots of fun. I will never forget it as long as I live.”

Hugh Freeze inherited his love for the Southeastern Conference from his parents, Rita and Danny, who celebrated their 60^th anniversary in March.

“We loved the SEC all our lives,” Rita said. “If we had two TVs, we put them in a living room, and everybody watched them all the time.”

Hugh’s decision to follow his father’s footsteps into coaching did not surprise his mother.

“His goal was to be an SEC coach,” she remembered. “I figured if he wanted to do that bad enough, he would succeed, and he did.”

When Freeze made his SEC head coaching debut at Ole Miss on September 1, 2012, Rita attended but didn’t see much.

“I didn’t watch,” she said, drawing laughs from the audience. “But I’m known for not watching. I just close my eyes and say it’s going to be okay.”

Thirteen years later, as her son prepares for his third season on the Plains, Rita and Danny plan to be there, home and away.

“Still the same,” Rita said. “I’m just as nervous as I can be. It’s nerve-racking, waiting. Once it gets started, it’s better, and sometimes I watch now.”

“She comes to the game,” Jill Freeze said. “She just has her eyes covered, or she’s in the bathroom. She’s here, she’s just not watching.”

After first meeting Jill in math class at Southern Miss, Hugh drove his future bride four hours north to introduce her to his parents.

“She gets out, she has on this beautiful white dress with polka dots all over, and hair fixed to the t,” recalled Rita, who suddenly felt underdressed in her farm clothes.

After welcoming their guest, Danny Freeze returned to his chore of building a roof on a shed, soon to be joined on the roof by the young couple, with Jill having quickly changed into casual attire.

“She’s got a hammer in her hand,” Rita recalled. “I said, ‘We’re going to be fine.’”

“They accepted me from day one,” Jill said. “They treated me like a daughter.”

Her eyes watering, Rita Freeze, known as “Mammie” to her 11 grandchildren, ended her time on stage with gratitude for her family.

“They’re all very special. God has blessed immensely,” she said. “I know this year we’re going to have a great year. It’s amazing what God can do in a life. You’ve got to live what you say for people to really care, and he does.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer