Just days before his Auburn Tigers partake in their yearly spring football scrimmage open for fans, Hugh Freeze suggested a new format for fans to enjoy spring games in the state.

While speaking to reporters on Monday, Freeze pushed for Auburn and rival Alabama to play smaller teams like Troy or UAB in the spring instead of scrimmaging against their own. He even suggested sending a charity in the state the proceeds from the game.

"[E]verybody would get out of it exactly what they want," Freeze said. "And if everybody's doing that - and let's adopt a charity to give all the proceeds to... Let Alabama play Troy, and we play UAB or vice versa, or whoever, I don't care, or Alabama State, or whoever. People will come see that. And you're decreasing your injury possibilities by 50%."

"I just think it would be great for the sport," he added. "I think it'd be awesome. NFL gets to scrimmage against others. High schools get to scrimmage against each other. And I just, for the life of me, I don't understand why we haven't gotten to that point where we can pull that off."

College basketball teams also participate in exhibition games against other schools, but it is not currently allowed by the NCAA.

The head coach for one of the teams Freeze mentioned said he "wouldn't have a problem with it."

Troy's Jon Sumrall would jump at the opportunity to play.

"I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd go play," Sumrall told 247 Sports' Brandon Marcello.

"I don't know what the interest level is for anybody else, and I don't think anyone is really interested in what my opinion is. Nobody really cares. I'm the head coach at Troy, so they don't really care," he added. "But if I was at [Alabama or Auburn], why not?"

To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email trent.baker@1819news.com.

Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.

JH Outback NCF Lifeline730 Adoption October 2021