Tennessee State University head football coach Eddie George is calling for more fan support following the team’s 24-17 homecoming win against Norfolk State on Saturday.
The Tigers are 4-2 heading into their next game on Saturday against Lincoln University in the third home game of the season.
“We have the chance to go to 5-2, we have the chance to have a winning record and a winning season and the people who are interested in watching us play will come out and support us and the people who aren’t then so be it,” George told The Tennessean. “Some people may not agree with me being the hire here and that’s fine. I’m OK with that. But it’s not me that you’re not supporting; it’s these kids. These kids who get up at 4 o’clock in the morning and bust their tails to study, to practice, and give the fans something to be excited about.”
According to the Tennessean, TSU has played in front of an average of 23,907 fans in all games this season. However, in their two home games, the average attendance was 8,632.
This year’s homecoming game garnered 13,395 fans which is 9,256 fewer fans than came out to last year’s homecoming against Bethune-Cookman.
“What I find interesting is that there was almost 30,000 fans (tailgating) outside of Nissan at homecoming while we were playing the game and a lot of them never came into the stadium,” George said. “Some people might not find football appealing. It might be more for the social atmosphere. I told my team we may be playing in front of empty bleachers the last three games.”
According to YardBarker, last year’s attendance dipped from an average of 16,892 fans during the first two home games to an average of 10,680 during the last two home games, a decrease of roughly 36.8 percent. “If that trend continues, Tennessee State would have an average attendance of 5,458 for its final home games this season, far less than George hopes,” the news source said.
Senior quarterback Draylen Ellis, who scored the winning touchdown during the homecoming game said that having the fan’s support would make a great impact.
“We had the fans there at the beginning of the game and all the way up to halftime and then they left,” Ellis said. “We need their support all four quarters. We need that energy the entire game. We bring our own support but when guys can look up in the stands and know that we have a bunch of fans and alumni supporting us it means the world to us.”
