Tennessee announced the date for the annual Orange and White Game. The Vols need to punt on the whole notion.
Gone are the days in which a spring football game was a fun event that was often attended by those that couldn’t afford tickets in the fall. The event, when it was an event, was once free and included interaction among players and fans. Those days are long gone. The non-event that Tennessee announced will be on April 13.
Admission to the non-event this year is $10 for non-premium seats and $15 for the Lower West Club. Charging for what will go on in Neyland Stadium is just criminal.
Based on what I’ve seen out of spring games recently, there won’t be much to glean from the organized field day. Why? Because Tennessee coach Josh Heupel hates the mere concept of a public event in which his players could get hurt or some scout could pick up a tidbit of information that could stymie the Vols in the fall.
Heupel isn’t alone. Every other coach in college football probably hates spring games, or at least the vast majority of them. Following in line with former Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose closed practices forever changed the access to college football teams, coaches are now too sensitive to showcase anything special when the game is open and, aghast, televised.
If Tennessee is going to hold a spring game, they should make it more of an event. A scrimmage with a school like Virginia Tech or North Carolina would be a good way to go. Fans wouldn’t feel bad about paying for something worth watching, which they won’t get on April 13.
There’s another idea that someone once floated to me that could possibly make the Orange and White Non-Event an actual event. How about holding NFL Combine-style drills to showcase players athleticism, especially since that’s about all fans will be able to draw from the event in its current format?
Ehh, I’m not real sold on that latter idea, but I’d buy it before I’d buy a ticket to what’s going on, shamefully, on April 13.
