With the redesign of Memorial Stadium officially underway for the Nebraska football program, progress has already been made in one important area. The stadium has some brand-new turf and a brand-new paint job. It should surprise no one at all that the new look drew a wide range of reactions from Husker fan,s and Athletic Director Troy Dannen talked about all the feedback he’s gotten, as well as what he thinks about the new look on Sports Nightly earlier this week.
"The field looks good. Everyone has been thrilled with it,” Dannen said. “There are a lot of field design experts on my Twitter telling me what it should or shouldn't be. Getting those red end zones, for every one person that tells me they like it, the next person tells me they don't. We've all been after getting a little more red inside the facility."
Nebraska's red-hot turf makeover at Memorial Stadium sparks split reactions
The “field design experts” Dannen referred to were people on Twitter who didn’t like the lettering, or that the red coloring was also along the sidelines in two small sections. As Dannen alluded to, it felt as though some Nebraska football fans were finding something wrong with it, simply to complain.
Late last year, Dannen made it clear he doesn’t believe Nebraska has leaned on its color scheme as much as it should. He’s taken several steps to rectify that since he took the job.
"We underutilized red a lot and I don't understand it. We don't light the stadium up from the outside and we should light it red every night. Red is an intimidating color and we should use it a lot more than we use it. I've told the Governor that the road signs, exits off of I-80 should be in red. Not in green. Not in blue, but in red. Little things like that and how we brand ourselves. Having those red end zones and I think it's a strong color. When we put the black letters in the end zone, I think it's a strong look."
It’s clear that while not every Nebraska football fan loves the new look, Dannen does. He also thinks those who are against it now will learn to love it.