OU's lawn ranger

By Michael Kinney

The University of Oklahoma athletic facilities take up more than 30 acres of land in Norman. From Memorial Stadium to John Crain Field to Headington Tennis Center, the athletic estate is vast.

One man is in charge of making sure the facilities are kept in order. Jeff Salmond has been with OU as the director of athletic field management for a year and a half, and his job has not gotten any easier.

"We take care of all the football fields, all the indoor fields, track and field, baseball, softball soccer," Salmond counted off. "Practice fields, the rugby field down there, all the ground that is around the Lloyd Noble Center. All the grounds around gymnastics. We also maintain, paint and mow the cross country course that is out there."

Salmond's duties include keeping the grass mowed and fertilized, the facilities painted and kept up and the area clean.

But the busiest day for Salmond and his 12-man crew may be Saturdays during football season.

"I arrive four hours before the game," Salmond said. "Set up all the sidelines, benches, cooling system or heating system, depending on the weather. Pads and pylons, taking ice down to the field during game. And clean up after the game. It's a long day."

Salmond is no stranger to hard work. He made his bones working for several professional and collegiate programs around the country.

"I have worked at a number of places in my career," Salmond said. "I was with the Baltimore Ravens for two and a half years; also the University of New Mexico and five years at Northwestern University."

But, just like for the recruits Bob Stoops and Sherri Coale talk to every day, the allure of working for Oklahoma was too much to pass up.

"It was in a southern location where the temperature is a little bit warmer," Salmond said. "And OU has a great history in athletics. I moved here for my family and myself."

Unlike the other places Salmond has worked, Oklahoma's weather has a varied and temperamental disposition. This week's assorted rains, wind and flooding problems have been an example of the type of issues Salmond and his crew have to be prepared for in order to have all the facilities ready for games and practices.

"You have to schedule things in advance," Salmond said. "You have to be prepared. Knowing last Saturday that this weather was coming in on Wednesday, we had to start preparing basically right after the football game to get ready for the rain. It's just that anticipation of things and being prepared for whatever comes your way."

And while preparing the football facilities may seem to take up a large percentage of his time, Salmond has to make sure the sites of every sport get their needed attention.

"The hardest part about my job is probably coordination of all the elements," Salmond said. "Yeah, it's football season, but we are also dealing with baseball. We are also dealing with softball. And knowing timing of application of things. Keeping a calendar of a schedule of events for all the athletic fields. And keep them maintained to the highest possible level that we can."

Because Oklahoma has events going almost every day, Salmond is working constantly to keep the facilities the "Best in the Big 12." But that doesn't leave much time for him to take a moment to admire the work he and his people have done.

"You usually can't do that," Salmond said. "You usually just kind of have to prepare yourself, knowing you have back-to-back weekend games. A Norman-Norman North game in between two games. By the end of the third week, you step back and see what adjustments need to be made. Sometimes you have a little time to step back, maybe on Sunday and check out a few things. But for the most part you are rolling right into the next work week and getting ready for the next game."

Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com