The University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium is one of the most iconic college football venues in the country. Last offseason, the stadium underwent renovations that reduced its capacity from 102,455 to 101,915 spectators, making it 10,000 fewer than Sanford Stadium's capacity of 92,000 people. Despite this, the Vols are still known for having some of the loudest and most passionate fans in college football. In 2019, the Vols had a 4-3 record in home games and ranked third in the SEC for total attendance and fourth for average attendance. This is an impressive feat considering that when Neyland Stadium was first built in 1921, it was only a fraction of the size of Vanderbilt's Dudley Field. In 2004, the University of Tennessee implemented the Neyland Stadium Master Plan.
This long-term strategy was designed to expand, renovate and maintain the stadium. As part of this plan, the interlocking UT logo was replaced by the same Power T logo that appears on football helmets. This change was initiated by new coach Doug Dickey, who also added the T logo to the football helmet and began the tradition of the team running to the field with the Power T formed by the band Pride of the Southland. Before playing at Neyland Stadium, Tennessee football originally played at Baldwin Park located between Grand Avenue and Dale Avenue north of Fort Sanders. In 1968, Tartanturf-3 m was installed as a playing surface partly to provide better drainage after heavy rains.
With all of Knoxville behind them, Tennessee football will surprise everyone on Saturday.
