AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin plans to reintroduce grass into Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (DKR) within the next few years, according to a report from KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman.
“I just love football played on grass,” Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte told the Statesman. “It’s as Americana as apple pie. I just think grass is where football is meant to be played.”
Del Conte said he hopes to have grass inside DKR by the 2026 season, but the timing will correlate with the construction of new practice fields to be located just south of UT's Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center.
According to the Statesman, when UT does plant its new grass, it will join most of its future peers in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Of the 14 SEC schools, 12 play their home games on grass, with only the University of Missouri and the University of Kentucky playing on artificial turf.
But that's not exactly the norm. According to research compiled by the Associated Press, 73% of the 133 schools that currently compete in the top tier of NCAA football don't play their home games on grass. The Statesman reports that UT's current conference, the Big 12, has only five teams that play on grass: Brigham Young University (BYU), the University of Central Florida, Iowa State University, the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas Christian University (TCU).
To learn more, read the Stateman's full report.