There was a time when a college football stadium's calendar revolved around six or seven home games each fall. Today, many of those same venues are expected to host concerts, international soccer matches and other revenue-generating events while still delivering a championship-quality playing surface when football returns.
For Nick McKenna, Assistant Athletics Director of Sports Fields for Texas A&M Athletics, that shift has transformed the role of the sports field manager from maintaining a football field to managing a multi-use stadium.
"I think that's kind of where we're trending towards, from a collegiate aspect, is more of a professional business model," McKenna said. "You're going to start seeing a lot of collegiate stadiums hosting more and more events, beyond just sporting stuff or beyond their primary tenant."
Raised on a farm in Iowa, McKenna expected his career to stay connected to agriculture. After changing majors twice, he found his fit in Iowa State University's turfgrass program. He credits professor Dr. Dave Minner, a leading expert in the profession, with introducing him to sports field management, while hands-on experience with Iowa State Athletics confirmed he'd found the right career path.
That path led McKenna to Texas A&M as his then-fiancée, now wife, Holly, prepared to attend graduate school in College Station. A recommendation from his supervisor at Iowa State connected him with longtime A&M Sports Fields Manager Leo Goertz, who had an opening on his staff. After several years with the Aggies, McKenna moved to Virginia Tech to pursue graduate studies and gain additional experience before returning to A&M in 2011. There, he worked alongside Craig Potts, now with Sod Solutions Professionals, before later assuming his current role as Assistant Athletics Director of Sports Fields.
While at Virginia Tech, McKenna first encountered experimental bermudagrass varieties that would later become NorthBridge® and Latitude 36.
"We had them out at our research station, and they were a couple of varieties that jumped out in my mind," McKenna said. "I memorized those experimental numbers and said, 'These are two turfgrass varieties I want to keep my eye on as they potentially develop and go to market.’"
Back at A&M, Latitude 36 eventually became part of the athletic department's turfgrass management program after it was commercially released. He credits its earlier spring green-up, improved transition and dense growth habit with helping reduce overseeding on several athletic fields.
McKenna credits years of refining a management program with getting the most from Latitude 36 while adapting to the increasing demands placed on A&M's athletic fields.
That planning would prove just as important as the grass itself during the summer of 2024. Following the Maroon & White Spring Game, Kyle Field hosted Mexico vs. Brazil before 85,249 fans on June 8. One week later, George Strait's "The King at Kyle Field" concert drew more than 110,000 fans before the stadium had to be turned around for football camp.
Planning began eight or nine months in advance, allowing McKenna and his team to help shape decisions rather than react to them.
"It's really easy as a sports field manager to sit there and grumble and complain. We get this reputation as, you know, grumpy old guys that just yell, 'Get off my lawn' all the time," McKenna said. "So how do you be proactive? I want to make myself an asset to our department, so when we do have these things, I get to be involved in the process, and I can help make the decisions that are going to be best not only for my team, but for our fields, for our athletes and for the athletic department."
The Texas A&M sports field management team prepares and maintains Kyle Field during the Mexico vs. Brazil international friendly on June 8, 2024.
Knowing the field was nearing the point where it would benefit from replacement, McKenna worked those conversations into the planning process, allowing renovation to follow the major events rather than disrupt them. The soccer match required expanding the playing surface with Latitude 36 grown on plastic. Keeping that temporary surface healthy through weeks of Texas heat required constant hand watering.
"Somebody was out, dragging a water hose, hand watering for two hours a day. And we did that for three straight weeks."
After the soccer match came the concert, bringing flooring, cranes, trucks and heavy equipment across the field. When the flooring finally came off after eight days in 95-degree Texas heat, McKenna said it was enough to make any sports field manager's heart drop. Although the field was already scheduled for replacement before football season, McKenna intentionally waited before beginning renovation. He wanted to see how much recovery was possible if replacement hadn't been an option.
"The whole thing essentially greened back up," he said. "It's probably a testament to Latitude 36 and some of these newer bermudagrass varieties, what they're capable of handling, and how strong and resilient the plant bermudagrass is as a whole."
From concert setup through recovery, Kyle Field’s Latitude 36 endured eight days beneath concert flooring, giving McKenna and his team a firsthand look at how the grass responded to the demands of a major event.
The field recovered better than expected, but McKenna knew it wasn't ready for another football season. The planned replacement also provided valuable lessons for future event recoveries.
"The beauty of it was I had that safety blanket of the field replacement, but in the future, you may just replace the section where the stage was or different flooring types you can use," he said. "There were a lot of different nuances, but really it was an educational opportunity for me."
After a quieter 2025, Kyle Field again transformed in 2026, first for the Savannah Bananas and then for an international friendly between Argentina and Honduras. McKenna's crew replaced half the field before soccer, repurposed the removed Latitude 36 on other A&M athletic facilities and returned Kyle Field to football configuration by the end of June.
"This is going to be kind of our new norm."
From collegiate athletics to professional sports venues, Latitude 36 continues to deliver the performance needed for today's demanding fields.
This article was written by Cecilia Johnson.
