Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel is encouraging fans to challenge assertions that Neyland Stadium uses artificial crowd noise. Known for its capacity of 101,915, Neyland Stadium has a reputation as one of the loudest venues in the SEC. During the Vols’ 24-17 victory over Alabama last Saturday, Crimson Tide radio broadcaster Chris Stewart suggested that Tennessee was amplifying crowd noise to create a more challenging environment for Alabama. “Second-and-16 is not ideal,” Stewart commented, noting the extreme noise level. “You’ve got over 100,000 people, and they also pipe in crowd noise.” He later retracted his statement on the “3 Man Front” show on WJOX 94.5-FM in Birmingham.
“I misspoke, but my point still stands,” Stewart clarified. “What I meant to say was amplified noise. It’s evident that they do it. They have speakers positioned at field level behind our benches aimed at the stands. It was incredibly loud and definitely contributes to the noise level, which was the essence of my point, though I may have phrased it poorly.”
During a press conference on Wednesday, Heupel addressed the allegations and urged Tennessee fans to “take that personally.” He stated, “I hadn’t heard that before. Neyland doesn’t require any artificial noise to be the loudest place in America. I hope our fans feel offended by that.” While Neyland Stadium does have large speakers directed at the crowd, Stewart’s original claim about their use for generating fake crowd noise seems to be unfounded. Currently ranked No. 7 nationally, Tennessee is on a bye week before hosting the Kentucky Wildcats on Nov. 2. Heupel anticipates an even more intense atmosphere at home following these unfounded claims.
“Enjoy this bye week, and come back ready for an even louder experience next time we’re at home,” he said.
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