Why the Tennessee Vols' wild fan base is an asset, not a deterrent
The national media wants the nation to believe that the Tennessee Vols' fan base is toxic. They want folks to believe that UT fans are the reason the program has struggled over the last 10 years. Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde called Tennessee fans "petulant" on Saturday night after an undetermined number of fans at […]
The national media wants the nation to believe that the Tennessee Vols' fan base is toxic.
They want folks to believe that UT fans are the reason the program has struggled over the last 10 years.
Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde called Tennessee fans "petulant" on Saturday night after an undetermined number of fans at Neyland Stadium threw trash on the field in protest of a poorly officiated game.
Forde is hardly alone in his denunciation of the Vol fan base.
Yahoo Sports writer Pete Thamel suggested this week that Tennessee has the worst fan base in college football.
As the dozens and dozens of items flew down onto the field — everything from water bottles to a mustard bottle to a yellow golf ball — Tennessee’s reputation as having the worst fan base in college football grew incrementally. As each item crashed to the turf, another piece of empirical evidence was added to a rich history of collective classlessness.
As the minutes ticked by and the hailstorm continued, Tennessee fans exhibited a level of fan misbehavior that we haven’t seen in college football this generation.
Thamel's exercise in hyperbole was one of the many bad takes from national writers that painted the UT fan base as the villains of college football.
Contrary to what these national writers believe, the passionate UT fan base is actually an asset to the program — not a deterrent.
It's the reason Josh Heupel agreed to leave UCF and the palm trees of Florida for a program going through a nasty NCAA investigation that was at rock bottom for what seems like the 20th time this decade.
"I came here because of what we saw the other night, on Saturday night," said Heupel during his weekly appearance on Vol Calls this week. "Passionate fanbase. There’s not a better environment in college football than what I experienced last Saturday night. From Vol Walk, with 40,000 people, to running through the T, which until you do it, you don’t really know what it means and what it actually feels like to do that."
“To 103,000 for four and a half hours being a difference in the football game, I just saw opportunity here," added Heupel. "As great as my expectations were before I took the job, they’re even greater here. It’s a better experience. My wife, our kids, my coaching staff, their families, this is a special place."
The players on Tennessee's roster feel the same way as Heupel.
"There’s nothing like this University, like this fan base," said wide receiver Velus Jones Jr this week. "That (the crowd for the Ole Miss game) was beautiful. I go back and look at pictures of it. Truly blessed to be at Tennessee with this fan base.”
Recruits feel similarly.
Top recruits want to play in front of a passionate fan base. They want a crazy environment that eats, sleeps, and breathes college football.
I had a parent of a former Vol who wasn't from Tennessee tell me recently that his son laid in bed at night as a teenager and dreamed of playing in front of a packed stadium with screaming fans. He told me that UT's fan base — the 102,455 that show up on a sold-out game day — is the reason his son signed with Tennessee over other elite Power-5 programs.
Tennessee's fan base is part of what makes UT special. Don't let the national folks who take perverse joy in tearing down Tennessee tell you differently.
Featured image via Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
