Best Playing Surfaces in the SEC? Inside Vanderbilt's Athletic Fields w/ Adam Adkins.

About this episode

Episode 252 of The Hitstreak, a podcast where we talk about anything and everything! This week we are joined by the Sports Field Manager at Vanderbilt University, Adam Adkins! Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Hitstreak, I sit down with Adam Adkins, the Sports Field Manager at Vanderbilt University and a guy I have known for 30 years. Adam and a team of five or six are responsible for nearly every varsity athletic surface on campus, roughly 24 acres with 11 and a half of that natural turf, and the standard never moves no matter what the weather does. We get into how my own dad taught a five foot twelve year old left hander to pitch, the summer Adam grew from five foot four to six foot two, the wake up call of an SEC locker room, and the phone call that talked him into an Augusta National internship he was ready to turn down. Plus what he looks for on a resume, why most people stop evolving the day school ends, the morning someone sprayed weedkiller on greens worth millions, and why you will never outlive your own self image. Key Points: - Trust the process only works once you have stacked enough wins that you would be a fool not to. - Somebody has to see it in you first, and then have the patience to stay with you. - Consistency is the whole job. The weather changes, the surface does not. - Culture starts at recruiting. Hire like minded people and it stops being a job. - You can plan for a year and something will still go wrong, so hire for how people adapt. - Personal development stops being automatic the day you leave school. After that it is a choice. - A degree without a way to apply it is a skill you cannot monetize. - Getting out of your comfort zone is how you find out what you actually love. - The more you learn, the faster you admit somebody else knows more than you. - Attention to detail can be explained to you, but you do not understand it until it is yours to own. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 01:31 Welcome and introducing Adam Adkins 02:57 What a Sports Field Manager actually does 04:12 The team: five or six people, every varsity sport 05:01 24 acres, 11 and a half of natural turf 05:27 Mother nature does not care, the surface stays the same 06:39 Building a culture where it stops being a job 09:00 How Mickey Hiter turned a 12 year old into a pitcher 11:01 Five foot four to six foot two in one summer 12:59 Bear Bryant, dedication, pride and never quit 14:06 You cannot get a D1 scholarship without training 16:22 The SEC wake up call 17:34 Luke Hochevar and how a big leaguer carries himself 22:42 Stacking wins until you cannot not trust the process 25:35 Why most people stop evolving after school 27:15 What Adam looks for on a resume 28:29 1500 interviews and the skill nobody could monetize 32:34 You can plan for a year and something will still go wrong 34:31 Lacrosse paint, an Eagles stage and baseball in the same week 37:22 14 years in golf and becoming a grass nerd 38:41 Almost turning down Augusta National 44:09 The day someone sprayed weedkiller on the greens 47:24 Joe Kennedy and the mentors who opened the door 50:10 The Eagles, and how you know when you have made it 53:02 Coach Corbin and everything in its perfect spot 55:01 Situational awareness is the difference 56:34 You will never outlive your own self image 58:55 Closing thoughts About our guest: Adam Adkins is the Sports Field Manager at Vanderbilt University, where he and his team look after nearly every varsity athletic surface on campus, roughly 24 acres of playing surface with 11 and a half acres of natural turf. Raised in middle Tennessee, he learned to pitch as a five foot twelve year old left hander under Mickey Hiter, Travis Copley and Lin Pilgrim, grew from five foot four to six foot two the summer before his junior year, and capped his high school career with a state championship before heading to the University of Tennessee, where he pitched and studied turf grass management. An internship at Augusta National that he nearly declined pulled him toward golf, and he spent 14 years as a golf course superintendent across middle Tennessee, starting at Vanderbilt Legends out of college. He returned to the sports side at Vanderbilt roughly two years ago. He credits Hall of Fame superintendent Joe Kennedy with giving him his start, and says being around coaches like Tim Corbin and Clark Lea is the part of the job he would never trade. Follow and contact: Instagram: @Adkins31 Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter