Tommy Underwood has 17 years of experience in field maintenance and for 11 of those years, he's been working alongside athletics director and head football coach Todd Wallace to make fields safe and playable for their district. The pair talk about how working at a small school district gives them immediate appreciation for what other people in the organization have to juggle to get the job done.

Here's what you'll hear in this week's Groundskeeper Chat:

  • What 32 years of coaching and 17 years of field maintenance have taught Tommy and Todd at Quinlan 
  • Logistics of annual planning and their daily touch base
  • The coaches POV on how to start a good relationship on day one with your field manager
  • Lastly, user-group education and financials being additional obstacles

A little bit more about our guest:

Tommy and Todd are the field manager and head coach/AD duo behind Quinlan ISD football program in Texas. The both agree that the first obstacle to good communication on the coaches/field manager level is putting yourself in the other person's shoes. After 11 years of working with one another, the pair say that leading with passion for safety and playability is common ground anyone can get behind.

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