AUBURN — Culture is a buzzword.

Every new coach says they're working to instill it, and fired coaches will often point back to a lack of it when discussing what went wrong in their respective tenures. Talent will cover up culture-related issues, because winning cures all and everyone is happier when the results are positive on Saturdays. You can think you have the best culture in the country, and moods will still sour without results.

But that doesn't mean culture doesn't have a role, and Auburn football is looking to get better in that aspect.

It isn't new to this season — the Tigers had it last year — but Auburn has a group of 12 players on the team tasked with setting the standard: The Culture Council. From quarterback Payton Thorne to linebacker Eugene Asante, the council of a dozen players met with coach Hugh Freeze this offseason to establish expectations.

HOOPS: Auburn basketball's Bruce Pearl is pushing the right buttons at point guard

TOPPMEYER: As Hugh Freeze asks key question after Nick Saban retires, I try to answer

"There's been a lot of positive things in our building since January," Freeze said Feb. 29, two days after the beginning of spring practice. "Many of those are coming from the player-led arena, which I love. I really think player-led teams are the best teams. Our culture council that was elected by our team has done an incredible job of setting the standard to which they expect things to be."

Freeze said he and the culture council had a meeting ahead of spring practice. The goal of the sit down was to come to an agreement on ground rules. What does Freeze expect from the players? Are those expectations reasonable? What should the players expect to get from Freeze?

The result was the culture council creating a presentation for the rest of the team. Freeze gave it approval, and it was shown to the roster.

"We presented that to the team in January," Freeze said. "It was accepted by all. Once it's accepted, then we have to be accountable to that standard. That unit of leadership has done a really nice job of saying, 'Hey, if we say our lockers should look like this, there's got to be accountability to every area — to the training table to academics to the way we approach work, our timeliness, our effort.'

"I've been really, really pleased with the leadership and what I've seen from that group."

Punishments are dolled out if the agreed upon requirements aren't meant, though those disciplines haven't been disclosed: "We're going to keep that classified, but it's real stuff that you wouldn't want to do," tight end Rivaldo Fairweather said with a laugh.

"I mean, we don't think of it very much as a punishment," sixth-year TE Luke Deal said. "We call it an enrichment. ... That's all it is. Just when you don't do something, there's always consequences in life. ... With Auburn football being the huge brand that it is and so many people relying on us, you definitely have some people depending on you. So, you have to do the right thing, and that's what we're trying to drive here."

Auburn needs on-field improvement in Freeze's second season. That's the bottom line. If deploying a culture council is what Freeze thinks he needs to do to make that happen, then so be it.

"We're trying to make sure our team standards are set and that everybody is aligned and doing everything to protect our team and keep our team in the best shape possible," Asante said. "We developed a culture council of guys that I truly admire, guys that do it the right way, guys that want to put their best foot forward for Auburn. We're trying to set the standard for how every day is supposed to be implemented.

"It's a very strict regimen; in no ways is it easy. Football is not easy, truthfully, and we have to do that to become a more disciplined team so that we get the results that everybody deserves and that we feel like we deserve in the fall."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: How Hugh Freeze is relying on his 'culture council'