(VERMILLION, South
Dakota) - The University of South Dakota Coyotes football team will take
the field this fall with two potent new weapons in its arsenal.
First, the team has a new coach in alumnus and Coyote Sports
Hall of Famer Joe Glenn, a former player and assistant coach at USD. In a coaching career that has spanned more
than three decades, Glenn has 24 years as a head coach, with 14 consecutive
winning seasons at Northern Colorado and Montana. He won two NCAA Division II National
Championships at Northern Colorado and won the NCAA Division I-AA National
Championship with Montana in 2001. Glenn
plans on continuing his winning ways at South Dakota, as they compete in the
Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The second new weapon in the arsenal is the addition of a
new AstroTurf field at the DakotaDome.
The Coyotes have played on an AstroTurf surface for years, in an
on-campus facility which seats 10,000.
Athletic Director David Sayler knows that the addition of
the new AstroTurf field will pay dividends to the athletic program and the
university as a whole.
“The new AstroTurf field at the DakotaDome will give us an
overall improvement in the football program and with our facilities,” said
Sayler. “It will also provide us with a
new and improved level of safety and performance for our student-athletes, as
well as demonstrate our commitment to the program.”
Senior Associate Athletic Director David Herbster was
heavily involved in the decision-making process.
“We looked at numerous options,” said Herbster. “We chose AstroTurf because of their breadth
of experience and the facilities the product has been installed in. Our confidence in their body of work was
extremely important. Also important were
price and customer service. We felt like
AstroTurf provided us with exactly what we needed.”
Herbster visited several facilities, but was sold when he
visited the indoor practice facility at the University of Kansas. The Jayhawks had the same kind of system that
USD was looking for.
“When we saw the field at Kansas, we knew we wanted to have
that in the DakotaDome,” said Herbster.
The surface will be AstroTurf PureGrass, a tufted nylon
product that provides exceptional, all-around performance. PureGrass was designed as a premium,
multi-purpose, extra-plush turf with a high fiber density. The PureGrass system at the DakotaDome will
not contain infill and is designed to be a portable system, which will rest on
an 8mm pad.
The system will employee the AstroHopper conversion system,
which is designed to allow for removal and storage of the field in a timely and
cost-effective manner, to allow the DakotaDome to convert for other types of
events.
The AstroHopper system rolls up field panels and maximizes
storage capacity by eliminating wrinkles, bagging, or telescoping which can
lead to increased surface wear, tear, and damage.
“The DakotaDome is a great venue and the University of South
Dakota has a top-notch athletic program,” said Bryan Peeples, President of
AstroTurf. “David Sayler and Coach Joe
Glenn have raised the bar and we are proud that they selected AstroTurf to
serve the needs of their student-athletes.
We look forward to being a part of their success for years to come.”
This summer, the three largest indoor sports facilities in
the Upper Midwest are getting new AstroTurf surfaces. Not only is the DakotaDome updating its
AstroTurf surface, the FargoDome in North Dakota and the Alerus Center in Grand
Forks, N.D. are also getting new AstroTurf fields.
The DakotaDome project will be complete in time for the
Coyotes to take the field for their home opener against Colgate on Sept. 8.
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