PROFILE
According to McKenna , his time at Virginia Tech was a good learning experience because he got to see the frustrations of growing both bermudagrass and bluegrass fields in the transition zone , and , thanks to Bowers , he was able to develop as a sports field manager and decision maker .
“ He was trusting and willing enough where he basically put me in control of the soccer and lacrosse facilities as his graduate assistant ,” said McKenna . “ He gave me my first opportunity to have full control of the field , and develop my skillset where I was making the everyday decisions about what I was mowing , how often I was mowing , when I was going to fertilize , what I was going to use , how much water I was going to use , coordinating schedules with the teams . He really gave me the freedom that I hadn ’ t had to that point in my career to really run my own show . I can ’ t thank him enough for giving me that responsibility .”
After two years as graduate assistant , just as McKenna ’ s assistantship funding was about to run out , Bowers left the Virginia Tech athletic department , and a full-time position opened up for McKenna in a role that allowed him to oversee the baseball facilities .
“ Going to Virginia Tech and working with Dr . Goatley is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my career ,” said McKenna . “ I pull so much from what I observed from him . To this day , the greatest thing is that we developed a close friendship . He wasn ’ t just my advisor , he wasn ’ t just a person on my graduate committee , he became a close friend , and that continues to this day .”
RETURNING TO COLLEGE STATION In the summer of 2011 , Goertz reached out to McKenna to let him know that Texas A & M was beginning a $ 27 million renovation to its baseball stadium , the grounds manager for baseball had just left , and Goertz himself was beginning to think about retirement and a succession plan for the Texas A & M program .
“ The idea was , if I was interested , to come back and take over the baseball facilities ,” said McKenna . “ Baseball was Leo ’ s love , so , for him to be willing to hand that off to somebody , that meant a lot to me .”
The long-term plan Goertz laid out for McKenna would be that Potts would – upon Goertz ’ s retirement – move into the lead role and McKenna would move into the role as assistant athletic field maintenance manager .
20 SportsField Management | February 2021 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com