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Olivia Sayer
The Sanford Stadium field sits before G-Day preparations on Monday, April 10, 2023, in Athens, Georgia. (Photo/Katie Tucker ktucker@randb.com)
Unsung heroes are the people you never knew existed but can’t live without. College football has plenty of unsung heroes, and the reigning national champions are no exception.
Whether it’s the scout team players, equipment managers or assistant coaches who may not receive enough recognition, it takes a village to help the Georgia football program operate smoothly — the University of Georgia sports turf and grounds crew is one of them.
So many of the great moments on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium would not have been possible without this team working around the clock to maintain the space between the hedges.
Ethan Kain, the assistant director of sports turf and grounds at the University of Georgia, is an important part of the crew. Another is Kyle Odom, a groundskeeper for UGA.
While it might not seem like it, the grass affects every single player that steps onto the field. If not maintained correctly, the turf can cause injuries. The UGA Grounds Department certainly understands the magnitude of this.
“We’re really just worried about footing, playability and safety for the football players,” Kain said.
To ensure the safety and playability of Dooley Field, the sports turf and grounds crew are especially deliberate about the type of grass used on the field.
“Sanford stays 100% Bermuda grass all year,” Kain said.
According to Gerald Henry, a UGA professor of environmental and turfgrass science, Bermuda grass is one of the safest options because it helps avoid lower limb and non-contact injuries, such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) tears.
“That system is meant to act as a shock absorber — so when a player falls on the ground, that grass and that soil profile give way,” Henry said.
A lot goes into preparing the field for game week. The process officially begins the Sunday after the game. On this day, the crew gives the field its first mow of the week and blows off any debris remaining from the game. On Monday, the crew sprays it with a fertilizer that gives the grass the food and nutrients it needs to get through the week.
Tuesday is when the real fun begins, as the crew starts painting the yard lines. This requires precision because one wrong move could jeopardize the result of a game. The crew members run a string across the field to verify they are painting the lines straight and into their precisely measured places.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the painting continues after the field is given another mow. The crew paints the endzones, red border, coaches’ boxes, hashes, numbers and SEC logos. Friday, the last day before the game, is when the finishing touches are applied.
On the morning of the game, the crew will give the field another mow to make sure it is on point for the game. After that, they are “hands off,” according to Kain, to allow players space to prepare for the game. However, this does not mean the crew can kick their feet up and relax. They must be ready for any obstacles that arise during the game.
“We have people stationed on the field [during the game] just in case anything goes wrong,” Odom said.
Although the college football regular season ends in November, maintaining the field extends well past that. Cold months and temperature drops follow the Bulldogs’ last regular season game against Georgia Tech. To keep the field in tip-top shape, the UGA sports turf and grounds crew covers the field in growth blankets, which are thin pieces of fabric that allow sunlight to pass through them and into the soil.
One memorable event in Sanford Stadium this past season took place on Jan. 14, when the football team celebrated back-to-back national championships. When the game clock hit zero the previous Monday night in SoFi Stadium, the turf and grounds crew knew it had one final assignment for the football season.
Although many fans were already celebrating around halftime, the grounds crew stuck to its typical game week schedule. According to Odom, preparing the field was mostly the same process as a typical game week, except for two things. One was the paint colors and the other was the stencil, putting a national championship logo where the “Power G” would usually be.
Preparing Dooley Field for gamedays is something that requires a lot of hard work. Head football coach Kirby Smart often emphasizes how his program makes the week of practice harder than the game. The same could be said for Dooley Field’s game day preparation.
“The coolest thing that I guess people don’t realize is that most of our work [occurs during] the week,” Odom said. “So on gameday it is more of just making sure everything goes good for the game because our work is mostly done.”
Even if just for a day, they get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. However, as soon as the game clock hits zero, it’s back to work on the field that brings Bulldog fans so many great memories on Saturdays in Athens.
Note from Author:
This was my assignment to conclude the recruitment process for joining The Red & Black, as it was my first published article. Prior to completing this, I had not taken any journalism classes. However, it’s fun to look back to assess what I have improved upon, as well as the aspects of my writing that I can still further improve upon. 🙂