Neyland Stadium

[OktocDawg]

In Knoxville this week. Growing up in the 90s I always thought of UT being one of the elites in SEC. Always thought Neyland Stadium was the best in the league. Laid eyes on it for the first time while walking around campus. Kind of a dump in my opinion. Super underwhelmed. The campus is okay but all in all I'm disappointed. Anybody else been unimpressed when visiting other schools?
Btw most buildings on UT's campus give me Dorman vibes.

 

[John Deaux VII]

They built the upper decks out of the Erector Set that Phillip Fulmer played with as a kid…

 

[RocketDawg]

In Knoxville this week. Growing up in the 90s I always thought of UT being one of the elites in SEC. Always thought Neyland Stadium was the best in the league. Laid eyes on it for the first time while walking around campus. Kind of a dump in my opinion. Super underwhelmed. The campus is okay but all in all I'm disappointed. Anybody else been unimpressed when visiting other schools?
Btw most buildings on UT's campus give me Dorman vibes.

I've been to Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, UMiss, and maybe some others, and none of them is particularly impressive. They're nothing like an NFL stadium, but they don't cost billions either. Davis Wade is fine, just smaller than most of the others.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

The TAMU campus is much more like a city than college campus.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Alex Box= meh.
The entire Southern Miss campus
The old Georgia dome was meh as well
South Carolina’s football stadium seemed like it was in built on an old remote landfill.

 

[aTotal360]

What a dump.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

In Knoxville this week. Growing up in the 90s I always thought of UT being one of the elites in SEC. Always thought Neyland Stadium was the best in the league. Laid eyes on it for the first time while walking around campus. Kind of a dump in my opinion. Super underwhelmed. The campus is okay but all in all I'm disappointed. Anybody else been unimpressed when visiting other schools?
Btw most buildings on UT's campus give me Dorman vibes.

It’s just really big. Went to a game there in 03(?). We sat in the upper deck in the State visitor section and it felt like we were on the side of a cliff.

 

[John Deaux VII]

South Carolina’s football stadium seemed like it was in built on an old remote landfill.

Close. I am pretty sure it is on the South Carolina State Fairgrounds. It is close to SC's campus, but not on it. Williams Brice is the most underwelming SEC stadium that I have been too. Also, it looks like a dead cock roach on its back. Only upside was that a ticket stub got you into Platinum Plus and there is a Bo Jangles just outside the gate.

 

[OktocDawg]

They built the upper decks out of the Erector Set that Phillip Fulmer played with as a kid…

The structural members are all rusted. Everything needs a new paint job.

 

[anon1758050382]

I had the same experience. When I was a kid, I remember it being a big deal that Neyland was a complete bowl with complete upper deck. Funny how little that matters these days.

 

[Xenomorph]

My company finished a bunch of work at Vandy’s stadium earlier in the summer and I walked through it. After renovations it’s no longer DFL. Vaught Hemingway is now the biggest dump in the SEC and it’s not even close.

A lot about Oxford is pretty cool but visiting there and walking into that trash heap is pretty underwhelming.

 

[patdog]

I've been to Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, UMiss, and maybe some others, and none of them is particularly impressive. They're nothing like an NFL stadium, but they don't cost billions either. Davis Wade is fine, just smaller than most of the others.

I actually like Davis Wade just fine. And it’s plenty big enough for us. Never seen Neyland but I’ve heard the same.

 

[ll Martain ll]

Both Neyland and Williams Brice are about to get major renovations. I'm actually surprised more schools aren't going with the Baylor/Northwestern route and tear down to rebuild. A lot of them are prime location but extremely outdated and difficult to fully modernize.

Ole Miss wanted to majorly renovate half of their stadium too, but it was right as NIL was gaining momentum, I think they had to nix it since fundraising changed pretty quickly.

 

[cowbell88]

The structural members are all rusted. Everything needs a new paint job.

I noticed this in 19 as I was walking through corridors before crawling up to the top on the river side.

Unfortunately Moorhead didn’t give us much to cheer about, so we didn’t have to worry about breaking the Ibeams.

 

[skipperDawg]

You 17 ers
Bask in your pain and make it feel better..
We at the bottom of the heap now.. stadium and football team
Quit whining and putting other stadiums down..
The only way we have a great stadium is WINNING

 

[CaptainFalcon]

Neyland and Bryant Denny kinda suck.

I thought Auburn and Georgia’s stadiums were pretty neat.

 

[El Perro Grande]

They built the upper decks out of the Erector Set that Phillip Fulmer played with as a kid…

And, they can't support Phil's ample frame without swaying.

 

[Maroon13]

I went this year. I've been one other time in 98 when they played Houston. Anyways.... I've never been that impressed with the look of the stadium or the campus. The stadium is big but as has been said, it's an old erector set stadium in places. The river side is a maze to get to the stadium with the hill. Then narrow caverness portals. However they did update the west facade of the stadium since last time I was there. It actually looks better on that side.

Also I saw that schools will stop at nothing to make money off fans. I wish I had a pic as words can't describe. But they built two step wooden risers at the top of the lower level behind a few regular seating sections and placed folding chairs on these wooden risers. I assume to add to capacity. I'm not sure how far down the east side those went. Just looked very odd and blocked a portion of the concourse. Imagine if state built wooden risers with folding chairs behind the 100
Level.

Positives, damn Knox has a cool college town feel, downtown on game day at least. Walking distance to downtown with the bars and restaurants. Stark will have that if they ever build more normal size bar/restaurants in the district.

Also they use to (maybe still do) had a cool feature where Jon Ward did his pregame radio show on the nw side of the stadium. The fans would gather on a hill and listen. I think state tried this in the amphitheater but Ike all things at State..... came and went .

Anyways, the biggest thing, it was so cool to see that many people in their colors and fill that stadium. The atmosphere was great. The splitting of the T. Rocky top got old but cool fight song. Light show.

Of all my sec town visits, I think lsu and baton rouge is the worst. Old stadium. Nasty town. Horrible fans. Tiger land is the epitome of lsu. A Nasty fairground looking place. Anyways

 

[Drebin]

In Knoxville this week. Growing up in the 90s I always thought of UT being one of the elites in SEC. Always thought Neyland Stadium was the best in the league. Laid eyes on it for the first time while walking around campus. Kind of a dump in my opinion. Super underwhelmed. The campus is okay but all in all I'm disappointed. Anybody else been unimpressed when visiting other schools?
Btw most buildings on UT's campus give me Dorman vibes.

Yes, it's most assuredly a dump.

 

[Drebin]

It’s just really big. Went to a game there in 03(?). We sat in the upper deck in the State visitor section and it felt like we were on the side of a cliff.

I went to that same game. Terrible experience. Stayed in Chattanooga the night before and drove up in the rain.

Parked on a patch of grass right near the stadium. Wife freaked out. "You're gonna get a ticket!"

I told her, "Oh, no, I won't be able to get my grades."

Came out, tore up the ticket, drove off. Never got my grades.

 

[vhdawg]

In Knoxville this week. Growing up in the 90s I always thought of UT being one of the elites in SEC. Always thought Neyland Stadium was the best in the league. Laid eyes on it for the first time while walking around campus. Kind of a dump in my opinion. Super underwhelmed. The campus is okay but all in all I'm disappointed. Anybody else been unimpressed when visiting other schools?
Btw most buildings on UT's campus give me Dorman vibes.

Have you seen their LED lights at night though?

 

[vhdawg]

I went to that same game. Terrible experience. Stayed in Chattanooga the night before and drove up in the rain.

Parked on a patch of grass right near the stadium. Wife freaked out. "You're gonna get a ticket!"

I told her, "Oh, no, I won't be able to get my grades."

Came out, tore up the ticket, drove off. Never got my grades.

Can you really place a value on getting to hear the PA announcer say "Now entering the game at quarterback for the Volunteers....Jim....Bob....Coooooooterrrrrrr!!!"

 

[Drebin]

Can you really place a value on getting to hear the PA announcer say "Now entering the game at quarterback for the Volunteers....Jim....Bob....Coooooooterrrrrrr!!!"

After you've heard Rocky Top for the 500th time, all the hillbilly sh*t starts to run together, to be fair.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I went to that same game. Terrible experience. Stayed in Chattanooga the night before and drove up in the rain.

Parked on a patch of grass right near the stadium. Wife freaked out. "You're gonna get a ticket!"

I told her, "Oh, no, I won't be able to get my grades."

Came out, tore up the ticket, drove off. Never got my grades.

Can you really place a value on getting to hear the PA announcer say "Now entering the game at quarterback for the Volunteers....Jim....Bob....Coooooooterrrrrrr!!!"

All I really remember was I think State scored first and then we watched Jason Whitten run over all our defensive backs the rest of the game. Just straight up trucking players.

 

[L4Dawg]

You 17 ers
Bask in your pain and make it feel better..
We at the bottom of the heap now.. stadium and football team
Quit whining and putting other stadiums down..
The only way we have a great stadium is WINNING

Our stadium is far from the bottom of the heap. What we have is pretty nice. If we could renovate under the east stands we would have a very nice stadium that suits our needs very well.

 

[Drebin]

You 17 ers
Bask in your pain and make it feel better..
We at the bottom of the heap now.. stadium and football team
Quit whining and putting other stadiums down..
The only way we have a great stadium is WINNING

This probably seemed like a good idea in your head

 

[OktocDawg]

You 17 ers
Bask in your pain and make it feel better..
We at the bottom of the heap now.. stadium and football team
Quit whining and putting other stadiums down..
The only way we have a great stadium is WINNING

I was always under the impression that piss troughs were what made a stadium great. Guess I need to learn some things.

 

[bolddogge]

The structural members are all rusted. Everything needs a new paint job.

And the restroom I visited during our last beat down in Knoxville looked like it had been repainted a dozen times but not remodeled since the place was built. The trough bolted to the wall along with the sinks and fixtures were antiques for sure. The whole stadium is a dump IMO. A big dump, but a dump nonetheless.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

I've witnessed too many MSU losses in that godawful giant orange toilet bowl - and damned if I didn't miss Don Smith's long run there in Felker's first year.

The worst was the Andy Kelly last minute drive. We could have come close to running out the clock if Sleepy would have run through a wideass open field for an easy first down instead of overthrowing a pass on third and 7.

I can still see it.

And that's what tortures me.

 

[seshomoru]

Gainsville, FL is the city equivalent of watching your kid stare at three strikes after you dropped $500 on a Dub.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Gainsville, FL is the city equivalent of watching your kid stare at three strikes after you dropped $500 on a Dub.

Gainesville kinda reminds me of Shreveport with more meth-necks and some palm trees.

I dislike both towns equally. But for very different reasons.

 

[dogmatic001]

Neyland Stadium reminded me of the old Yankee Stadium, the House that Ruth Built.

Yankee Stadium was legendary, and for good reasons, but modern and sumptuous comfort were not among them. It was built in the 20s and it showed. Steel erector sets painted gray, narrow everything, etc. Neyland reminded me instantly of that - both in the storied aspects and the hard reality.

 

[o_Brokerdawg]

I went to Neyland and in the process fell off the JoeMo wagon as I watched a poorly coached team (MSU) get embarrassed by a poorly coached team. (UT)

I think all campuses have their pluses and minuses. I love States campus. There are some horrible structures that should have never been built IMHO that have hurt the charm of our campus. The drill field and Dudy Noble are by far my favorite parts of campus.

Lastly, UGA is without a doubt the best town/campus I've ever stepped foot on. The proximity of everything is simply heaven sent.

 

[Jack Klompus.sixpack]

You 17 ers
Bask in your pain and make it feel better..
We at the bottom of the heap now.. stadium and football team
Quit whining and putting other stadiums down..
The only way we have a great stadium is WINNING

Wrong. Stadium is not bottom of heap. Football team, perhaps.

 

[Maroon13]

I had a run up through the Midwest a few months ago. Stopped by UofIllinois, Notre Dame and circled back down through Bloomington.

1. UofIllinois. Yikes. Best looking building on campus was the football stadium. Unpleasant architecture. Champagne looked like what I thought a Soviet town would look like.

2. Notre Dame Beautiful campus with the architecture. The Basicilia of the Sacred Heart was beautiful, spectacular. South Bend, meh. There are some nice shops and restaurants across the street from the campus. That's about it.

3. Indiana. Pretty campus. They made use of the quarry stone with every building. Also they have enough Greek houses to rival any sec school. The town of Bloomington is a nice college town with great strip of bars and restaurants just off campus. The town is Just big enough just small enough. Indiana could easily fit in the SEC.

 

[60sdog]

I went to Neyland and in the process fell off the JoeMo wagon as I watched a poorly coached team (MSU) get embarrassed by a poorly coached team. (UT)

I think all campuses have their pluses and minuses. I love States campus. There are some horrible structures that should have never been built IMHO that have hurt the charm of our campus. The drill field and Dudy Noble are by far my favorite parts of campus.

Lastly, UGA is without a doubt the best town/campus I've ever stepped foot on. The proximity of everything is simply heaven sent.

The garish Alumni building on our campus makes the whole place look bad.

 

[22yardpunt]

In Knoxville this week. Growing up in the 90s I always thought of UT being one of the elites in SEC. Always thought Neyland Stadium was the best in the league. Laid eyes on it for the first time while walking around campus. Kind of a dump in my opinion. Super underwhelmed. The campus is okay but all in all I'm disappointed. Anybody else been unimpressed when visiting other schools?
Btw most buildings on UT's campus give me Dorman vibes.

Outside is definitely meh and even ugh but the inside and the stadium experience is yeahhhhh alriiiiight