Watching the Tennessee Volunteers play football at Neyland Stadium is supposed to be an experience like no other. Entering the stadium for a big game and being surrounded by a sea of orange is something every Vol fan should take in at least once.
But this past week against Georgia, that experience was less than ideal. Fans complained of gridlock getting from the stadium entrance to their seats. For many fans, another experience like that may sour them from returning to Knoxville for another home game this season.
Tennessee has new gameday football plan to ease 'unacceptable' fan congestion at Neyland Stadium https://t.co/GDKNR2R2l8
— Tennessean (@Tennessean) September 17, 2025
Danny White heard the complaints about last week's stadium congestion and the Tennessee athletic director promised changes immediately. Those changes were outlined on the official Tennessee athletics website and White, himself, issued a long apology on his 'X' account.
""VolNation, I owe so many of you an apology. The experience getting into Neyland [Saturday] was not acceptable. The expanded south concourse and gate 9 / Truly Plaza are intended to make ingress much better, and they will, but our plan was obviously not effective. It wasn’t for lack of effort, our staff and campus partners have been working hard on this all offseason," White's statement read. " It is proven to be difficult to predict traffic flow with new gates given our tight footprint. That’s not an excuse, we missed the mark. That’s on me. I want you all to know that we are immediately looking at adjustments to our plan. Just as importantly, we will communicate with y’all this week about your best path into the stadium depending on your seat location. Thank you to those that have made me aware of the situation on this platform. I did see it myself at Gate 20. It gutted me to see our loyal fans so frustrated. I’m very sorry. We will fix it.""Tennessee AD Danny White
Winning makes everyone happy
As inconvenient and annoying as the logistics issues at Neyland Stadium, I guarantee the fans would be a little more understandable had Tennesee beaten Georgia. But the Bulldogs won for the ninth consecutive time in the series and some Vol fans are frustrated and angry about the overtime loss.
White probably recognizes this and did the smart — address the fan complaints and make changes. These changes, which include opening the gates 30 minutes earlier, will help the situation, and it makes the fans feel like they are being listened to.
During these dark days after another loss to the stinky Bulldogs, Vol fans just want White to let them know he feels their pain and he cares.