by College football is ever changing and I’m not just talking about the on the field product and really anything to do with players, conferences, and money. I’m talking about the game day atmosphere!
In life, like football, there are winners and losers. This also applies to tailgating and a game day atmosphere. Let it be known there is a reason that nobody is scared to play at UCLA no matter how good they are and are scared to play at a school like Iowa no matter how bad they are. It’s the atmosphere!
There are some schools that do not care about their atmosphere (and indirectly their sports) at all. And there are other schools where it is the only thing they care about. I’m thinking like Cal and Bama. Some schools are starting to care about how people, who have no intention of ever attending and/or visiting their school, view their school. I hate to keep mentioning my university, but I can’t help but see Coastal Carolina falling into this trap. Do y’all remember back in 2020 the Coastal-BYU game? Y’all know, Mormons vs. Mullets and those two players bullying Zach Wilson after he threw an interception? That game is the reason I even transferred here to begin with! Coastal’s Brooks stadium was the fullest it had ever been last season and yet, towards the end, the school stopped liking the atmosphere it seems because certain people didn’t like seeing the students and fans get rowdy! Coastal was at 90% capacity for six of the seven home games last season with 5 of those being sellouts! It was amazing (and is awesome to see for any Group of 5 team)!
We hosted App State (another school with an incredible atmosphere) on a Thursday night on ESPN. For all those who follow a G5 team they know just how huge any nationally televised game is. We ended up beating them and along the way we kept chanting our favorite chant, “F*** APP STATE!” (keep in mind LSU literally chants “SUCK THAT TIGER D*** B****!” which LSU unsuccessfully tried to end), as one would do towards their rivals. We ended up storming the field and it was the most electric I had ever seen the stadium! The next morning all students woke up to this…
Are you kidding me??? The most electric crowd that your school has ever seen and this is your response??? I would argue that in this case you should embrace the villain role! A lot of people hate Bama, Texas, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson, etc. In basketball it is Duke and Kentucky. You think that these schools care? As a program you almost want to become a villain… that means you are good. Not everyone can be America’s darling/Cinderella forever. Everyone loves Colorado, Duke (in football), Tulane, JMU, etc. That’s because these programs are not known for being good (JMU was dominant in the FCS, but c’mon nobody expected them to be this good this fast in the FBS). A couple of years ago Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina were in that boat, but with continued success people stopped caring because it is expected that they are good. Anyway, I digress…
The next game was nowhere near as crowded as one would expect…
Now this year, they have DOUBLED DOWN and taken away the student tailgate… well not exactly, but it used to be where you would get a FREE wristband and take your case of beer into a field and listen to the frats play music and everyone gets rowdy! It was a glorious time! Now it is $20 (for 5 games not even all 6) and you MUST BE 21 and are limited to bringing in at most 6 alcoholic beverages at 8% or less. Long story short, last week nobody went & the stadium was dead as hell for the HOME OPENER of all games!
I know that other schools are having this issue. And it is ashame that we are truly ruining what makes college football different and more fun than the NFL. These schools would rather have dead/empty stadiums than the most ruckus and large crowds you can think of. Y’all, I was at the Penn State Whiteout in 2016 where an unranked Penn State team upset #2 Ohio State 24-21… I have SEEN what an atmosphere does for a team, and we know how one win can change the trajectory of a program or, hell, even a university!
College football, while being for everyone, is carried by the diehards! This sport isn’t built for the cocktail party-going, wine-drinking folks. It is built for the bonfire-going, Busch light-slamming, hell-raising crowd! Nobody says you have to tailgate, but to try and limit it, and in some cases ban it, is wrong!
We as fans, students, and good people in general need to band together and fight back against the no fun police! All we wanna do is drink some brew, grill up some burgers, play some corn hole, can-jam, beer die, etc., and cheer on our school/favorite team!