FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SFM: Can you share a little about your overall management approach to the winning field and what you feel have been the most important aspects to getting this field to an awardwinning level? Lenz: For me, it’ s always the employee first. I truly believe if you’ re sincere and care for the employee like a second family, they’ re going perform at a high level for you and give you all they have. I ask a lot of our crew. I think we all take a lot of pride in what we do, and we strive to do even the finer details to the highest level. But I also understand that everyone has a life and dreams outside of this job. Nobody wants to come to work miserable every day. In my opinion, we do really great job of balancing work and life the best we can, and making sure we’ re covering for one another to prevent employee burnout. That’ s the key to success. When you have people who want to be here and enjoy what they’ re doing, and they also know they don’ t have to sacrifice life outside of this job, it makes for a healthy environment and sets a crew up for success.
SFM: Please tell us about your crew, and anything else you would like us to know about your organization and the fields / facilities that you manage? Lenz: We have a special bunch right now, and they all complement each other so well. Our crew is made up of three assistant field managers, three full-time groundskeepers, a handful of student workers, and part-time helpers. We’ re associated with nine different sports teams and oversee about 25 acres of highly maintained natural grass fields,
12 SportsField Management | November 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com