The electric atmospheres that populate the SEC have long been a strong recruiting tool for head coaches, and with the pyrotechnics and light shows that go on nowadays, that is only even more true.
Ahead of his team’s primetime home date with Mississippi State this Saturday, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko spoke at the Aggie Football hour about just how strong of a recruiting pitch Kyle Field can present.
“If you bring a kid to Kyle Field when there’s 109,000 people there, they won’t see anything else like that,” Elko said. “They’ll walk away knowing that Texas A&M is a premiere atmosphere. Thank you to the Aggies out there who make it what it is.”
On one hand, Elko is certainly correct. From the “Midnight Yell” to the coordinated chants and incredible decibel levels, there isn’t another venue in the sport like Kyle Field.
But on the other hand, College Station’s stadium doesn’t even rank in the top 3 when it comes to max capacity in college football, making Elko’s statement of “they won’t see anything else like that” somewhat untrue.
From third to first, Ohio State’s Horseshoe (102,780), Penn State’s Beaver Stadium (106,572) and Michigan’s Big House (107,600) rank above Kyle Field when it comes to available seats. And even with Elko’s presumed estimate of 109,00 with standing-room only being factored in, it’s safe to assume that the aforementioned venues–as well as others like Neyland Stadium or LSU’s Death Valley–could reach that figure as well.
Parker is currently the sports editor with the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
