Ricky Rahne can’t help but react when he hears about the safety concerns of playing football on modern artificial turf.
“I played Franklin Field when the lines at Franklin Field were an inch and a half above the turf because they were literally repainting it with real paint all the time,” Rahne, the Old Dominion Football ” the coach and a former Cornell quarterback said this week. “If you weren’t careful when you took a drop, you could trip over it. In my opinion, these fields are now significantly safer than before. Football as a whole is safer than before, besides the fact that guys are bigger, faster and stronger. Everything else is safer.
As the NFL Players Association lobbied to get rid of artificial turf playing fields amid concerns they were responsible for lower leg injuries, college coaches don’t seem to share those concerns.
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In Virginia, while the Commonwealth’s two ACC programs – Virginia and Virginia Tech – play their home games on natural turf surfaces, the three Group of Five schools – James Madison, Liberty and Old Dominion – play and practice all on artificial grass.
Nationwide, 94 schools playing FBS football use artificial surfaces while 39 play on turf, according to the Associated Press.
“From a maintenance and upkeep standpoint, it was the most logical solution,” JMU spokesman Kevin Warner said. “For us, it was a pretty clear choice.”
In fact, JMU is so comfortable with its FieldTurf surface that it rarely, if ever, practices on its grass fields. The week before the Virginia game, for example, they practiced exclusively on the turf at Bridgeforth Stadium, despite the fact that UVa’s Scott Stadium — where the Dukes ended up winning 36-35 — is a soft surface. grass.
The cost of installing, maintaining and replacing artificial turf fields (which must be replaced every 7 to 10 years) is much lower than the price of natural turf surfaces, school officials said. So at the Group of Five level, where incomes are lower than those at the Power Five levels occupied by Virginia and Virginia Tech, this has been the preference.
James Madison installed a new FieldTurf-branded surface at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg in 2019, the same year Old Dominion installed the new FieldTurf at Ballard Stadium in Norfolk.
Liberty has just installed a new Astroturf 3D3 Rootzone Blend pitch in 2022.
“I’ve never had a problem with injuries or anything like that, as far as we know,” said Mickey Guridy, Liberty’s senior associate athletic director for internal operations. “They are tested every year to make sure they are playable and not dangerous. As we change them, we find out what the best version of Turf is and try to keep them up to date with the best version.
Although research is inconclusive regarding the impact of playing injuries on grass or turf, the NFLPA believes that many injuries – including the torn Achilles tendon suffered by New York Jets quarterback York Aaron Rogers in the first game of this season – can be attributed to artificial surfaces.
Last month, he called on the NFL to move to all turf fields.
The NFL noted that a second player, Baltimore Ravens running back JK Dobbins, also suffered a torn Achilles during the league’s opening weekend — and that his injury occurred on a natural grass pitch.
Rahne and his boss, Old Dominion athletic director Wood Selig, said they would be interested in seeing real-world data on turf versus turf injuries.
“We’ve discussed it, but everything we’ve seen is just anecdotal evidence,” Selig said. “I haven’t seen a real scientific study with results. When you purchase a turf field from different turf manufacturers, they are always quick to say that their fields have better compression tests and are generally more forgiving than natural grass. At least that’s what they represent.
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Virginia and Virginia Tech both play on natural turf, but have artificial surfaces at their indoor practice facilities alongside the turf fields. UVa coach Tony Elliott said his preference for turf is more sentimental and traditional and he has no concerns about letting his team practice on the turf field.
“My preference is grass. I just think that’s what football is, in my opinion,” Elliott said. “I love the game, so I love the smell of the game. … We haven’t noticed any trend that would make us think that playing on grass causes more injuries.” So, I have no problem playing on it or training on it, but my preference is grass. I just like the feel of grass.
That’s a fair representation of the level of concern among college coaches across the East Coast.
“I know it’s a topic of discussion nationally,” said Georgia Southern coach Clay Helton, whose team competes in the Sun Belt Conference with JMU and ODU. “We just laid brand new turf at Paulson (stadium). It hasn’t been a problem for us and our training center just got a brand new pitch and that hasn’t been a problem. I know this is a discussion that exists in the NFL. They do a wonderful job studying security. I’ll let people much smarter than me study them. I will try to worry about points and victories.
