At BYU, football is king.
Almost any fan can tell you their favorite BYU football moment, and many of those occurred at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
For many, it’s the Darius Lassiter touchdown in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter against Oklahoma State in 2024. Fans see the highlights and grit on the field, but what few see is the preparation of that field, which makes the game possible.
Understanding the preparation that goes into the gridiron will change any fan's perspective on college football. Aside from the thousands and thousands of dollars it takes to maintain and present a football field, there are thousands of hours dedicated by a small crew of roughly 15 individuals, mostly students, who work tirelessly on keeping the field at LES healthy and game-ready.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into it,” crew member Grant Johnson said. “It’s more than just taking care of a lawn or cutting grass. It’s top dressing, aerating, [and] painting that’s involved.”
Johnson's description of the work is completely accurate, but he’s being modest. Amongst the tasks he listed, the crew hand-waters, repairs damaged grass, trims, installs new sod, moves and adjusts football equipment such as field goal posts and benches, and completes a slew of other responsibilities, too many to be listed here.
And many fans are surprised to know that the field at LES is real grass, not artificial turf.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize that it’s actual grass,” Ryan Apostolo, a plant and landscape systems student and three-year crew member, said. “People that’ve come down to check out the field and discovered that it was real grass have been really shocked.”
The LES field is not the only surface under the crew’s stewardship. In addition to preparing the stadium’s grass for Saturdays, the team also maintains BYU’s two practice fields located just north of the Student Athlete Building.
If LES is all about presentation and performance, the practice fields are all about resiliency. The grass on campus used by the football program is beat up, torn, crushed and ripped by over a hundred athletes and coaches every day.
“People don’t realize how delicate the field can be,” Apostolo said. “Most people don’t really know … what goes into taking care of it and the amount of detail and precision that needs to be done. From fertilizing, watering, mowing, like every aspect. There’s just so much more that goes into it.”
The consensus is clear from the crew: taking care of Big 12-quality football fields is not like taking care of your front lawn. Meticulous effort, strong attention to detail, and consistent repetition is essential to keeping the grass strong and healthy as it endures the trauma sustained by a Division I football program.
“Most people are just at the stadium and see that the field is painted, but they don’t really know we spent all week prepping it,” Joe Shelley of the crew said.
Once the grass is prepped and ready, the crew embarks on its most recognizable assignment: painting the field.
“We’re trying to make sure it looks presentable. We have people stringing it, we’re carrying hash boards around, making sure everything looks precise and clean,” Shelley added. “And while that is our job and that’s why we’re hired, I don’t really think the field gets the recognition it deserves.”
Painting the field is arguably the central responsibility of the crew. All the effort made toward the field is for one goal: to assure its readiness for paint and play.
Before the first home game of football season, the crew uses rolls of string, as Shelley mentioned, to outline the field accurately. As students use the string to lay out the field, the crew’s supervisor, Dustin Pixton, begins the painting process.
After lines are painted, numbers and hashes usually follow. Number boards and hash boards are used to mark and outline their location, and the team does the rest.
Stencils are then placed on the field using the previously painted lines to accurately display school logos, conference logos, and corporate sponsorships. It is at this point that the royal and navy blue paints are introduced, adding a certain pop and vibrancy to the field.
For conference home games, the crew will paint both end zones royal blue, a process that typically takes several hours and leaves the crew with shaky legs and sore backs.
Apostolo, Johnson, and Shelley all agree that the most coveted and enjoyable responsibility on the crew is operating the field goal nets during games.
Being part of the live game operations is what sets this crew apart. Most BYU students will never experience a Cougar football game from field level, and it’s something crew members don’t take for granted.
Following the conclusion of a game, the crew shares a meal before beginning postgame field repairs, including fixing divots, clearing debris, and cleaning up the sidelines.
“I’ve come back every season because for one it’s a nice campus job while I'm in school, but also it’s the people,” Shelley said. “I wouldn’t come back if I didn’t like people and I like the purpose as well. I’m a BYU football fan and being able to tend to their fields and see their practices and what they’re doing, it makes me feel a little bit more involved and helpful.”
The crew’s work often goes unnoticed, and if it is noticed, it’s usually negative. But a focus and understanding of what goes on behind the scenes shows fans that college football isn’t just a game. It's a beautiful production that is made possible by more than just athletes and coaches.