ETSU athletic director Richard Sander says it’s still “a once-in-a-lifetime situation to play in that venue.” Jones said the biggest challenge is making sure players focus on football and not the atmosphere.Īll this work isn’t just for one football game.Ī week after Tennessee-Virginia Tech, Football Championship Subdivision programs East Tennessee State and Western Carolina will play here in front of a significantly smaller crowd. Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said he doesn’t d o that for all road games but feels it’s essential this week so his players get acclimated to this unique environment and coaches can get a sense of their perspective from the boxes. Tennessee assistant athletic director for events management David Elliott said, “We’re telling both teams to have a ton of binoculars up in the coaches’ booth so they can see better there.”īoth teams plan to visit the field for a walkthrough Friday.
The seats and coaches’ boxes are much farther away from the field here than at a typical football stadium. Rather than having video scoreboards at each end zone, Bristol has Colossus - a 700-ton overhead scoreboard with four high-resolution screens that is suspended above the infield. The common word they use is ‘breathtaking’ to walk in and see this place completely converted. “It’s been a lot of fun to take people in who haven’t seen it. Technology was installed to allow instant replay and communication between coaches. The coaches’ boxes and radio booths are where NASCAR officials generally monitor races. A tire mounting area now is Virginia Tech’s locker room.
#VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL JUMBO SCREEN REPLAY INSTALL#
Three years earlier, the company needed nine days to install turf in StubHub Center in Los Angeles for the 2012 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.Ī drivers’ meeting room was reconfigured into a locker room for Tennessee. NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans, was converted from a grass surface to turf in four days in September 2015. Sydney Stahlbaum of AstroTurf noted the company was part of similarly rapid installations before. More than 100,000 square feet of AstroTurf were brought in to form the actual field, a process that was completed in about a week. The morning after the race, 450 truckloads of rock and manufactured sand evened out the speedway’s bowl-shaped infield, which had a natural drop of about 3 feet from the edge to the middle. The speedway is hosting the football game less than three weeks after a Sprint Cup race. “I’m curious to see how the field will be and how far the stands and everything will be from the field,” Virginia Tech receiver Isaiah Ford said.
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