A Field Fit For Battle
November 24, 2021 | Football, Joel Coleman
Mississippi State Sports Turf Superintendent Brandon Hardin makes sure the Bulldogs’ playing surface is in top shape for the Egg Bowl and all throughout the year.
STARKVILLE – Safety. Playabilty. Looks.
That's the order of priority as Mississippi State sports turf superintendent Brandon Hardin oversees the playing surface at Davis Wade Stadium.
When fans walk into the venue for Thursday night's Battle for the Golden Egg between MSU and Ole Miss, they'll see an immaculate-looking gridiron, decorated with maroon end zones, two state of Mississippi outlines, along with the traditional M-State logo at midfield. Yet there's so much onlookers won't notice and probably won't even think about.
"Paint is just one small aspect of the field," Hardin said. "I know it's a big part to our fans and the appearance of things, but the paint is a very small part of a very big plan. At the end of the day, the paint just dolls it up."
So what all goes into the putting together of a playing surface? What are some of the things Hardin and his staff must consider?
"We're literally taking measurements of surface hardness, moisture readings and shear strength," Hardin explains. "Shear strength is where we take the soil, and it gives us a reading of what the grass shears off at. It's telling us what it takes to break that grass off from a player's foot, where it doesn't tear up a lower extremity."
Again, safety and playability are of utmost concern. Take for example earlier this season. Ahead of the Alabama game, Hardin had determined the field wasn't in good enough shape. It wasn't up to the State standard.
Nine days before the Bulldogs played the Crimson Tide, MSU finished up a Thursday night practice at Davis Wade, ahead of a trip to Texas A&M. By 8 p.m. that night, Hardin and his crew were ripping up a large portion of the sod in the middle of the field. The first truck of new sod arrived around 3 a.m. Friday morning. It started getting put down around 7 a.m. and was down by around 10 a.m.
"I wasn't going to let our athletes suffer one bit," Hardin said.
Oh, but yes, there's the paint. It's almost inarguably the most visible part of Hardin's job. This week, Hardin and his crew used 312 gallons of paint to put together their masterpiece. Depending on the week, the amount usually sits somewhere between 200 to 315 gallons. It all just depends on a particular week's configuration.
This week, the end zones are painted. Earlier in the year, that wasn't the case. A lot goes into that decision. One, it goes back to the matter of priority. The end zone is actually softer, thus safer, when it hasn't been painted repeatedly.
"The more you paint, the harder a surface gets," Hardin said. "Our midfield logo is somewhere around 100 right now (on the Clegg Impact Tester), meaning the NFL standard is if anything is over 100 on the Clegg, you have to do something to soften it up. The NFL won't let you play a game on it. We're right about 100 or somewhere around that right now from all the paint we've put on that midfield logo. [Painting] adds a negative playablity side of things in the end zone. You think about a player diving into the end zone and hitting his head on that, it's a lot harder than it could be."
There are other considerations as well. In the first part of the season, a painted end zone is a bit more difficult to maintain. Part of that is because of Starkville's environment. In the warmer months, the bright green grass grows fast enough it can quickly be seen through dark maroon paint.
Consider also, Hardin has a staff of four full-timers and three students. All four full-time employees oversee at least one of MSU's sports facilities. Some more than that.
"Backup to a few weeks ago, we still had [fall] baseball practice going on and softball practice going on," Hardin said. "Soccer just concluded [recently]. Those guys have to make sure those facilities are at the top and maintained and ready to go for those athletes before we can move them to the stadium to help."
No matter the challenges, every time the Bulldogs play a home game, Hardin and his staff find a way to make MSU's home field as beautiful as any in the nation. Short week like this one with just five days between games? No problem!
"The short turnaround actually helped us a lot simply because we didn't have to put two coats of paint on the white letters in the end zone," Hardin said. "The short turnaround basically made it where we could hit everything one time either Monday or [Tuesday]. We did put a second coat of maroon on the end zones [Wednesday] morning."
The end result is breathtakingly gorgeous. And it's a product of much teamwork, from State's administration to the coaching staff to Hardin and his crew.
It's one big collaboration and even a learning process. Don't forget MSU head coach Mike Leach is only in his second season at State, and this is his first traditional-type season here after last year was pushed back and impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plus, this is Leach's first-ever head coaching stop where he's had a natural playing surface to think about. Both Texas Tech and Washington State play on artificial surfaces. So Hardin says everyone is getting used to things. Yet the whole process seems to excite Hardin.
"We embrace it," Hardin said of adapting when called upon to do so. "If that's what it takes to win a national championship, let's go baby. We're going to do what we need to do."
Put another way:
"We're going to do whatever it takes to keep our kids safe and our field playing at the highest level," Hardin said.
And yes, looking as good as possible too. And on gameday, if all goes well, the Bulldogs can make their home gridiron look even better with a victory celebration on top of it.