DIII School Dragged For Inexplicably Installing Black Turf On Football Field

In 1986, Boise State became the first college football program in America to ditch the green turf of a traditional football field in favor of the bright blue hue that immediately set the school apart from the rest of the pack.

A number of schools would ultimately follow in their footsteps, and as things currently stand, the list of DI teams with untraditional turf colors includes Coastal Carolina (teal), Eastern Washington (red), Eastern Michigan (grey), and Central Arkansas (purple and grey).

There are also some less notable programs that have gone the same route—a group that now includes SUNY Morrisville, a fairly tiny DIII school in upstate New York that competes in the Empire 8 conference.

However, you have to wonder how long that will end up being the case when you consider the Mustangs will be playing and practicing on the recently-installed black turf that was showcased in a video that was shared by offensive coordinator Matt Rogers.

You don’t need to have a doctorate in thermodynamics to understand why that might be a bad idea; Morrisville may not have the most brutal climate on the planet, but the school certainly isn’t making life any easier for the athletes who will presumably be working out on a black turf in the summer while the sun beats down on the surface.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t appreciate the aesthetics at play, but plenty of people were more concerned with the potential downsides of subjecting players to what seems to be an unnecessary risk factor.

Comparable to the surface temperature on Mercury.

— Steve Rausch (@ChestRockwell68) July 18, 2023

At the end of the day, we’re talking about Morrisville, New York as opposed to somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line; the average temperature during the warmest months of the year isn’t necessarily debilitating, but I also wouldn’t exactly describe it as “chilly.”

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if this ends up panning out poorly.