With Maryland Football set to open shop with media day on Monday, it appears that the field at Byrd Stadium has been finalized and in my humble opinion, it looks good.

Byrd Stadium synthetic turf project is finished.Go Terps! @umterps @randyedsall @baltsunsports twitter.com/UMDGroundsCrew…

— UMD Grounds Crew (@UMDGroundsCrew) August 3, 2012

I really like the final design that Maryland ended up using, which is basically what they had last year but replacing grass with this new field turf. I know a lot of people wanted this design, but I think sticking with the classic green and Maryland flag end zone gives the field plenty of character and makes it distinctively Maryland without going over the top. Had we gone with a black or gray field, I think it would have been a little much.

My favorite part about the new field turf is that the flag end zones are now so well defined and the colors are so much bolder than when they were painted on the grass field (as you can see in the lead photo on this story). Additionally, having been on the field at Byrd many times, I can tell you that while I love that smell of the natural grass, the quality of the field was rather subpar for a division 1 football team. The new field turf seems to really cap off the recent renovations to the stadium. Here is a picture of the field right before they removed the grass, leveled the field, and installed the new turf.

A look back at the field just before the project was started after the men's lacrosse season, and a concert. twitter.com/UMDGroundsCrew…

— UMD Grounds Crew (@UMDGroundsCrew) August 2, 2012

When you compare how the field looks now to this one above, I think it's a night and day improvement. Add in the fact that they're using a new technology utilizing cork to help keep the field cool and I think this was a home run design.

What do you all think? Are you happy with what we ended up with?