Long before the TCU Horned Frogs take the field on a Saturday morning, bursting through clouds of purple smoke to the cheers of thousands at Amon G. Carter Stadium, someone has to do their laundry.

And paint the yard lines on the field. And make sure their helmets fit right.

Hundreds of people comprise the ‘behind the scenes’ team that springs into action weekly throughout the fall. They work to ensure that once Saturday arrives, all the Frogs have to do is play football.

Siegel’s ultimate goal is to maintain a playing surface that protects athletes from injury. If the ground is too dry, it won’t cushion an athlete’s landing properly. Too wet, and the athletes may slip.

“I'd rather see a grass divot come out than somebody's Achilles or ACL blow out because the ground didn't give way,” Siegel said. 

Alongside monitoring the scientific condition of the field, Siegel is also in charge of maintaining its physical appearance, a process that includes measuring and painting lines, numbers and logos on the field.

If everything goes according to plan, Siegel said, it usually takes about five hours to complete painting the field. On its own, it takes roughly 2.5 hours to paint the end zones purple. 

The paint used isn’t your everyday gallon of Sherwin-Williams. It’s manufactured specifically for athletic fields by World Class Athletic Surfaces, a Mississippi company that also provides paint for NFL and MLB fields, and is formulated to minimize the harm done to the grass. 

“Our goal is to only paint the grass and get as little [paint] into the soil profile as possible, which is why we roll most of our lines now,” Siegel said. “That way it just puts paint on those blades of grass.” 

The painted designs grow out with the grass, get mowed off each week, and the process starts over. 

Suited up

Inside TCU Football’s equipment room in The Carter’s south end zone complex, the situation can best be described as organized chaos.

Large rolling shelves contain everything from shirts to shoes and even head coach Sonny Dykes’ gameday attire. In the corner of the room, a shelf of Nike shoe boxes nearly reaches the ceiling, each labeled with the player’s name.

The droning hum of an industrial dryer can be heard from another room.

At the center of it all is Jason Jones, TCU’s director of football equipment. Jones and a team of student equipment managers are tasked with getting the Frogs dressed and out the door for practice and game day.

Jones said that throughout the week, the work isn’t too intensive. The team works to stay on top of the laundry from practice and pack trunks with each player’s gameday supplies, which are later unloaded into their lockers. If a new set of helmets will be used, Jones and his team also hold fittings to ensure each helmet is comfortable and safe for the player. Come Saturday morning, everything kicks into high gear. About five hours before the game, Jones and his student equipment managers arrive to set up.

“Each student has a different section in the locker room that they're in charge of setting up,” Jones said.  “It's about 10 lockers each… everything that [the players] are gonna have for the game, they'll set up nice and neat in the locker.”

The decision on which set of uniforms the team will wear each week is made ahead of time, usually in the summer, and takes into account player input and the opposing team’s colors.

“If we know a team only has white, we won't wear our white [uniform,]” Jones said.

Final approval on uniforms must come from head coach Sonny Dykes, who Jones said is usually fine with “whatever the players want.” 

Most of the hurdles Jones faces on game day are headset and helmet technology issues. If a player’s uniform gets ripped during the game, the goal is to address the problem quickly and sturdily enough to make it to halftime or the end of the game. 

In some instances, Jones said, the team’s doctor has been called, not to attend to an injured athlete, but to throw a few quick stitches in a torn jersey.