How the UT grounds crew got Neyland Stadium's field ready

[K-town Vol Fan]

Pretty rare to see actual journalism these days, this is a great read.

Inside the six-day mad dash to make Tennessee's field playable after an epic party

 

[Hunter10139]

That was a great read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

Awesome!! Thank you!!!

 

[TNHopeful505]

Wow. Yeah, I guarantee you nobody gave a second thought to the guys who did the work on the field when they stormed it. That being said, obviously, everyone understood and was happy for our program. But it definitely made more work for them. Our field, in my opinion, is always in pristine shape, and one of the best fields in the country. The checkerboards are always amazing. Definitely unsung heroes. Great article!

 

[ENGRVOL]

Pretty exciting story. Makes you kinda mad at the person who tore up the grass

 

[walkenvol]

Interesting read, but there’s records amount of cash flowing in from the recent success. Paying the turf crew an extra $20K in overtime - storming the field after beating bama is priceless! Cudos to the professionals who have the skills to get the field ready each week!

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

Never thought I would find an article about grass so interesting

 

[GulfCoasterVol]

Pretty exciting story. Makes you kinda mad at the person who tore up the grass

and those not policing their glass ....

 

[SpecialKVolfan]

Very good!

 

[VAVol85]

The current turf manager must have taken over for the crew we had a decade ago when the field got to the point of being nearly unplayable. The grass died off and players would make a cut and a big chunk of sod would come up. I have forgotten how it got so bad but others might remember.

 

[stevenrich2003]

Great read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DaytonLawVol]

Knoxville is right on that edge of having weather suitable for bermuda grass for the whole season.

Places further south use Tifway 419 Bermuda and dont have as many problems with the colder weather, as their grass wont go dormant as quickly as it will in Knoxville. Having Bermuda grass fields south of the Chattanooga area is pretty easy to do.

North of Chattanooga, you have to be more creative with Bermuda grass fields. Neyland uses Latitude 36 bermuda and must overseed with rye grass to keep the field from turning brown by late October/early November. Latitude 36 is excellent for us as it is very cold-hardy for a bermuda grass. The northernmost Bermuda grass college football stadium that I know of is Virginia Tech, they use the exact same kind as Neyland. North of that....as far as I know...real grass fields are varieties of Kentucky Bluegrass.

Bottom line, what they did was not easy and pretty complicated as it occurred close to time for bermuda to start going dormant in Knoxville.

 

[Model12]

 

[37620VOL]

The current turf manager must have taken over for the crew we had a decade ago when the field got to the point of being nearly unplayable. The grass died off and players would make a cut and a big chunk of sod would come up. I have forgotten how it got so bad but others might remember.

Butch had them painting it green.