By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Darian Daily is the new head groundskeeper for the Paul Brown Stadium. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Darian Daily received his green thumb from Middle Tennessee State University, where he earned a degree in plant and soil science in 1992.

He's been using that thumb to keep a pristine playing field at Columbus Crew soccer stadium since 1999. Now Daily has a bigger pasture to tend - Paul Brown Stadium which, during its first three years of operation, has not been very green for Bengals games in November and December.

The new head groundskeeper at the $450 million, publicly-financed stadium, Daily was selected during a nationwide search that yielded 51 candidates from New Jersey to California. But the 34-year-old had a thumb up on the competition, mostly because he's from the Bluegrass state and has worked extensively with a sand-based, Kentucky bluegrass turf like the kind in the stadium.

About 80 percent of the surface underneath the bluegrass at Paul Brown Stadium is sand, which allows the field to drain properly.

"About the only difference between the two stadiums is that we didn't have a heating system in Columbus," Daily said. "And the weather is a little more humid here, which promotes more fungal growth and more disease problems."

Daily will need all of that experience and more on a field that Tampa Bay defensive end Simeon Rice referred to as "worse than the worst" in the league last year.

The truth is, there are a handful of NFL playing fields in the same boat as Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tennessee and Green Bay all have had problems with their playing surfaces late in the season. That's because they share the same problems: sand-based, grass fields in open-air stadiums that host high school, college and professional games - along with concerts and other special events - in cold, winter weather.

Last year was the best for the grass at Paul Brown Stadium. After a disastrous first two years - which saw Jacksonville file a complaint with the league after their game in 2000, and that familiar painted-dirt look at the end of 2001 - the field held up reasonably well for most of last season, although it took four re-soddings at about $25,000 a pop to make it through.

Daily says the field will need just one re-sodding this year.

What's his secret?

A kind schedule.

"We've only got two games in November and two games in December," he said. "And we've got two stretches in the schedule where we have three weeks (between home games). So much of it has to do with the schedule. One of our breaks is in September (and the first part of November), which is still in the growing season.

"People in my business pray for one three-week break, and we've got two of them."

There are also no college or high school games scheduled this fall, and that will help the grass recover between Bengals games.

Thinking green

Daily, who is currently shopping for a house in Cincinnati with his wife and 3-year-old daughter, is taking over for the stadium's first groundskeeper, Doug Bradley.

Bradley took a lot of heat for the field's poor performance in the first three years. Much of that poor performance was a result of things out of his control, such as a drought in the first summer that led to a temporary Bermuda turf being installed late, and a late-arriving bluegrass field that never seemed to take root in the second year. He stepped down in February, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Daily said the long hours - sometimes from first light until well after dark during the season - won't be a problem for him. Besides caring for the playing field, he is responsible for the three practice fields, a sod farm and supervising a crew of groundskeepers that also cares for the landscaping around the stadium, as well as writing and tracking the budget to pay for it all.

"I've got a very understanding and wonderful wife," he said. "This job is a little bit of a heartbreak for her, though. She's a Browns fan."

Eric Brown, the stadium's director, said Daily impressed them from the start.

"He came highly recommended, and he had a great plan of attack in terms of the types of fertilizers he'll use and his general maintenance program," said Brown, who is no relation to Bengals' owner Mike Brown.

Daily's not guaranteeing more wins for the team, but maybe a new look for the field.

"We've got some ideas and are working up schematics for them," Daily said. "But you'll have to wait until the Detroit game to see it."

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E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com

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