Turfgrass management alums make their mark on the field

In 1994, the Michigan State University Turfgrass Management Program received international acclaim with something no one had done before, successfully used a modular system in a practical application for an indoor natural grass field during The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, World Cup.

In the decades that have followed, Spartan alums of the program have used their expertise worldwide.

Landing a dream job with FIFA

Jake Kilby loves soccer. Growing up in Onsted, Michigan, he spent free hours playing the sport with friends, watching it on TV and dreaming of becoming a soccer star while controlling his favorite players in video games. He knew he always wanted the game to be part of his life.

“My dad loves to tell a story from when I was very young about my career plans to become a professional soccer player,” said Kilby, an MSU graduate from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Apparently, as a child, I had a whole plan mapped out. I would take karate and gymnastics lessons to become a karate champion. Once I became a professional karate champion, I would save up enough money to travel overseas to pursue a career in professional soccer.”

Kilby’s route to professional soccer varied slightly from his childhood plan. He didn’t find his calling through athletic feats of speed and skill, but through scientific research and academic achievement as a student in the MSU Turfgrass Management Program.

Immediately after completing his master’s degree in crop and soil sciences in December 2024, Kilby was hired by FIFA to serve as stadium pitch manager for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup. It was a benchmark in a career journey that found its direction as a student at MSU.

He learned about the MSU turfgrass program while already an undergraduate student. Kirby’s friends spoke highly of the program, and he saw a chance to connect his academic career to the sport he loves. His first step was to reach out to meet with MSU’s “grass guru.”

“I was impressed by Jake right away and saw his interest in the growing field of sports turf management. When I asked him what he ultimately wanted to do, his first response was ‘work for FIFA,’” said John “Trey” Rogers III, professor and director of the MSU Turfgrass Management Program.

“When we got word that we would be working on the 2026 World Cup project, it didn’t take much to convince him to stay on to finish his master’s and apply that work to the FIFA project. When FIFA called looking for turf managers, I told them I have someone who would walk through fire to work for FIFA.”

While at MSU, Kilby’s research focused on the use of plant growth regulators on sod grown on plastic to understand best practices for temporary playing surfaces in domed stadiums.

“Working for FIFA was a dream job for me,” Kilby said. “As I learned more about turfgrass at school and interned at golf courses and in sports turf management, I knew I wanted to connect that knowledge back to soccer.

“I have only been on the job for six months, but I can still say it’s my dream job. I can proudly say that I am contributing to the success behind the biggest stage in the world for the sport that I love.”

The FIFA Club World Cup kicked off in Miami on June 14, with 63 matches in 12 venues, culminating in the final on July 13. The top professional teams from around the world came to North America to compete to decide the best club team. The tournament also gives researchers and turf managers like Kilby the chance to see how their work stands up to the test of the best players in the world.

“I was at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the first opening match there, and it was amazing,” Kilby said. “It was beautiful to see the culture of soccer being fully embraced here in the U.S. Both teams played extremely hard, which is a great sign to us grass managers, because that means that they trust the field they are playing on.”

From student to leader in the field

John Sorochan is now a Distinguished Professor of Turfgrass Science and Management at the University of Tennessee. But in the early 1990s, he was a graduate student of Rogers, developing the system that would revolutionize grass in domed stadiums during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

“It was an awesome experience and invaluable to us as students at the time,” said Sorochan. “I remember it like it was yesterday.

“Toward the end of the ’94 World Cup, we had the chance to go up on the fabric roof of the Silverdome. We, of course, jumped on it like a trampoline, but we also looked down through the vents in the roof onto the field. Once I got over the fear factor of the wind blasting in my face, I looked down onto the field from above — looking at the wear and tear on the field after four World Cup games, knowing that the research we did contributed to making the field better for the players. I knew then that I wanted to improve sports fields for the players and the games I love.”

As a graduate student, Sorochan immersed himself in the world of soccer pitch development. He traveled around the world to provide expertise for clubs like Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Valencia, as well as working with fellow graduate student John Stier on a project in La Plata, Argentina.

Stier is now the associate dean of the Herbert College of Agriculture at the University of Tennessee.

While working together at MSU, Rogers and Sorochan developed a relationship that sparked each other’s passion for turfgrass research that has led to more than 30 years of collaboration.

“Trey was my mentor for the 11 years I spent as a turfgrass student at MSU. I learned a great deal from him and by the time I was getting ready to leave, we were finishing each other’s sentences,” Sorochan said.

Soon after finishing his doctorate at MSU in 2001, Sorochan joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee.

His experience at MSU also provided the model for what Sorochan has helped build at UT. When he was hired in 2002, the UT turfgrass program had two full-time faculty and no existing research plots. Today, the number of faculty has doubled, and UT turfgrass is a global leader in sports turf management research.

“There are three of us with degrees from Michigan State working on turfgrass here at the University of Tennessee,” Sorochan said. “I think what we’ve been able to grow here reflects what Michigan State provided for me. I was able to see what excellence can be, and I was able to help be a catalyst to help build that at the University of Tennessee.”

Now, Sorochan and Rogers are working together again to provide the natural grass playing surfaces for the FIFA World Cup 26.

Read more about Sorochan in the Spartan Magazine.