Troy head coach Jon Sumrall is open to the idea that Hugh Freeze raised this week at Auburn.

Freeze said that all of the teams from Alabama should play others during the spring in place of the annual spring game exhibitions and intra-squad scrimmages.

“Everybody would get out of it exactly what they want,” Freeze said. “And if everybody’s doing that … Let Alabama play Troy and we play UAB or vice versa, or whoever, I don’t care, Alabama State. People will come see that. You’re decreasing your injury possibilities by 50%.”

Asked by Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, Sumrall is on board.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I’d go play,” the second-year coach told 247Sports.

Freeze’s point is that spring games don’t accomplish much, and this would add interest from fans. Freeze said that NFL and high school teams hold similar scrimmages. And while he didn’t mention it, college basketball teams do, too.

Sumrall would play a spring game, he said, but believes a better format is a joint practice session in the spring, much like the NFL allows between teams during preseason camp. Exhibition games could negatively tap into the competitive nature of coaches, who might spend most of their allotted practices in the spring preparing for the exhibition rather than developing players.

“Do you get caught up in preparing for the game more than just using spring as a developmental time for individuals — and for experimenting, adapting and growing within your systems on offense, defense and in the kicking game?” Sumrall said. “Those are the only drawbacks I see.”

Marcello also pointed out that Alabama hasn’t played an in-state team other than Auburn during the regular season since 1944. Auburn has only played UAB once in its history and is scheduled to host South Alabama in 2025. The Tigers hosted in-state FCS programs Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Jacksonville State within the last decade.

“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 said. “But if I was at [Alabama or Auburn], why not?”