JONESBORO, Ark. — When the best-selling book “The Blind Side” was released in 2006, Hugh Freeze knew he would have a prominent role.

Freeze was the high school football coach of Michael Oher, whom the book was centered on, and the two had grown close during Oher’s career at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis. Still, taking time to read the book was not in Freeze’s plans. Instead, his wife, Jill, highlighted all the parts where he was mentioned, creating an abridged version of sorts that he could flip through.

“It’s my personality that I can’t sit and listen to anyone for more than 30 minutes, except for my pastor,” Freeze said in an interview this week.