VOLUNTEER VOLUMES: Vol. 3, Ch. 1 - Bryan Podgorski

The story of Bryan Podgorski, aka: @BryPod11

By: John Dunn

Founder, Managing Editor, Producer, Host

The All Vol Call in Show

20240711

Tennessee fandom runs in the Podgorski family. As a legacy, Bryan's fandom was accelerated by attending Tennessee games with his father and family.

"I am a Tennessee graduate. My father graduated from Tennessee back in the 70's, and my sister also graduated from Tennessee. My mother is the outlier, graduating from Texas. We've lived in Tennessee since I was about a year old, when my father began working for TVA. We had season tickets through TVA. We would attend all the games. Sometimes it was my whole family and other times it was just me and my dad. That's where it all began.

Going to the games was a wholesome experience every time. We would move around the stadium and soak in the atmosphere. There's not a bad seat in the house. The Tennessee fan base is so unique. It's the best fan base in the country. Even as a kid when I didn't truly understand the magnitude of everything going on around me, I still felt like a part of something bigger. There's nothing like it in college sports.

It isn't just football. It seems like in every single sport, the fan base is just so supportive. The Lady Vols basketball team always had die hard fans. It seems like over the past few years, there has been an increase of passion on the men's basketball side of things as well, not to mention how the baseball team has been doing and how much people have been excited and supportive of them as well. It's really nice to see Tennessee doing well in everything right now and it really just further increases the passion of an already passionate fan base.

I am extremely superstitious, it seems like any time I say anything positive about the teams, something bad happens. I have the worst "BVS" of all time. I am always a die hard fan, but I celebrate and watch a little differently. I try to stay calm, cool, and collected as much as I can for everyone else's sake. But it is amazing to see the current trajectory of the athletics department at Tennessee and I am proud to be a Volunteer."

Follow Bryan on Twitter (X): @BryPod11