Why is Brooks Stadium's field teal? Explaining Coastal Carolina's 'Surf Turf'
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When Kennesaw State and Western Michigan face off in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Friday, Dec. 19, in Conway, South Carolina, fans watching the game will be met with an out-of-the-box field design.
Brooks Stadium, home of Coastal Carolina, has a teal playing surface, and is otherwise known as the “Surf Turf.”
The teal field has been the top feature at Brooks Stadium since 2015, when Coastal Carolina followed suit with other college football programs’ colored turf fields like Boise State, which started the trend in 1986 with the first non-green field in the world. Other programs like Eastern Washington and Eastern Michigan also have non-green playing surfaces.
When Coastal Carolina renewed its turf ahead of this season, it also added black end zones this time, further customizing the look of the field.
Here’s why Coastal Carolina has a teal field, and how it came about.
Why does Coastal Carolina have a teal field?
Coastal Carolina opted to switch Brooks Stadium from natural grass to turf ahead of the 2015 season due to the grass having a hard time staying in playable condition due to harsh weather at times near the South Carolina coast. The move also saved the program money, of course.
The idea came from Zach Silverberg, a Coastal Carolina player who was on the roster in 2013. Silverberg mentioned the idea to then-coach Joe Moglia after hearing rumors of the program switching to a turf field.
“I started to hear rumors we were going to get turf and I said, ‘If we’re going to get turf, we might as well do it with a little pizzazz,’” Silverberg recalled via The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “… I said, ‘Coach Moglia, if we’re going to get turf, we should get teal turf.’ He said, ‘Zach, you know, that’s worth a discussion.’”
Surf Turf is ready @Ry_Beard 👌 pic.twitter.com/qyXxPWCTaE
— Coastal Football (@CoastalFootball) December 12, 2025
Moglia eventually mentioned Silverberg’s idea to higher ups, who liked the idea. Former Coastal Carolina athletic director Matt Hogue later said in a university announcement that having a teal field made perfect sense for the school.
“When the decision to install an artificial turf field was made, it only made sense that the turf be teal,” Hogue said in a letter. “In addition to our winning tradition, we are known nationally for our distinctive color scheme. And it’s not just the color our teams wear, but a campus-wide identity. We felt this would be a great opportunity to further build that brand.”
At the time, the school started embracing its colors of teal, bronze and black more, providing further reason for the field choice. The school has official hashtags for social media of “TEALnation,” “FeelTheTeal” and “TealTuesday,” to name a few. The fire hydrants on campus are also teal.
“Teal Tuesday” was created in 2012 and is a spirit day where students on campus simply wear teal.
Brooks Stadium’s teal field is nothing short of unique and is just another example of what makes college football what it is.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Brooks Stadium’s field teal? Explaining Coastal Carolina’s ‘Surf Turf’
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