New UNC football head coach Bill Belichick is already installing sweeping changes in Chapel Hill.

On Monday afternoon, the football program announced Kenan Stadium would be returning to a natural grass playing surface for the 2025 season and beyond.

“With our current turf reaching the end of its lifespan, the timing made sense to return Kenan Stadium to its natural grass roots,” said UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. “Our staff takes great pride in maintaining a top-tier field that reflects the excellence of UNC Football, and we look forward to cheering on the team as it competes on a world-class natural grass surface next season.”

For most of its nearly 100 years of existence, Kenan Stadium’s playing surface has been natural grass. However, the stadium switched to artificial turf beginning in the 2019 season and kept the surface through the end of the 2024 season, mirroring the tenure of head coach Mack Brown. The new grass surface will retain a synthetic turf perimeter, which coexisted with Kenan’s grass surface for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

“The decision to convert back to grass was made in consultation with new Carolina Head Football Coach Bill Belichick – with the best experience for the program in mind,” read a release from the school.

A grass playing surface has made sporadic reappearances at Kenan Stadium since 2019, notably returning for two exhibition soccer games played in the summers of 2023 and 2024.

According to the school, the Indian Trail-based contractor Carolina Green will install 67,000 square feet of GameOnGrass Tahoma Sod, surrounded by a 36,000-square foot turf perimeter. The irrigation system will be similar to those at other UNC athletics fields and will use reclaimed water. The school estimates the project, which is being funded by The Rams Club, to last 12 weeks.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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