Neyland Stadium's lower bowl was mostly full, but the upper bowl was empty getty images
First-year Univ. of Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt "put the Vols' fan base on notice after Saturday's spring game," which had an announced attendance of 65,098, though that number "appeared to be a farce," according to Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL. Actual attendance "appeared closer to 40,000, with the lower bowl mostly full and the upper bowl empty" at Neyland Stadium. Pruitt said, "We all need to look in the mirror and see who we want to be." Toppmeyer noted admission and parking "were free for the game." Pruitt added, "The ones that were here, I’m proud they were here. They’re fired up. They’re ready to get going. And then there were some people that wasn’t here that had legitimate reasons. They couldn’t be here. Then there were some people that wasn’t here that, why wasn’t they here?" (Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL, 4/22).
ULTIMATE INSIDER: 247SPORTS.com's Grant Ramey noted UT AD Phillip Fulmer during the spring game "addressed the department he inherited." Fulmer was asked "about a reception of roughly 150 former Tennessee players held Friday night when he mentioned his qualifications for the job after taking over for former AD John Currie." Fulmer said of his predecessors, "I don’t (think) anybody had any ... ill will, they just didn’t know. They hadn’t been trusted a lot because they were from the outside.” Fulmer: “This family atmosphere is very important to our people. I know these people. This job has not been hard because -- it’s challenging, certainly -- I know where bones are buried. I know the good guys, the bad guys. All those kinds of things" (247SPORTS.com, 4/21).
SPRING IN THEIR STEP: The crowd for Georgia's spring game at Sanford Stadium was "announced at 82,184," trailing only the record 93,000 that turned out for coach Kirby Smart's first spring game as coach in '16 (ONLINEATHENS.com, 4/21). Meanwhile, a crowd "estimated at 74,732 was in attendance at Bryant-Denny Stadium" on Saturday for Alabama's spring game (TUSCALOOSANEWS.com, 4/21). Notre Dame on Saturday scrimmaged "before a crowd of 31,729" (SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE, 4/22). There was a "spring game record crowd of 86,818" at Nebraska on Saturday for coach Scott Frost's first spring game (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 4/22).
