‘Tank Williams Jr.’ did the dirty work: Why a robot took over the field at the Under Armour All-America Game

A robot, not a grounds crew, painted the field for the 2026 Under Armour Next All-America Game in DeLand, Fla. The machine is called “Tank Williams Jr.” It handled one of the most time-consuming jobs at Spec Martin Stadium while humans watched.The GPS-guided robot finished in hours what used to take days. The shift is not cosmetic. It is about labor, accuracy, and player safety. The details were first reported by Zach Allen of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.While Spec Martin Stadium was being prepared for its second straight Under Armour Next All-America Game, a Turf Tank robot painted the field. Groundskeepers nicknamed it “Tank Williams Jr.” The name is a play on the company behind it. Turf Tank is based in Denmark and builds GPS-coordinated line-marking robots for sports fields.Under supervision from a single crew member, the robot stenciled a 40-yard midfield logo with “All America” arched above three roses. The work will be erased after the game and repainted for the Hula Bowl ahead of its Jan. 10 showcase.Brad Keith, DeLand’s sports turf superintendent, said this job used to dominate his week.“We had been using them to come out and paint (Spec Martin Stadium) and quickly realized that it saved us from having six employees over here,” Keith said. “We could legitimately leave one employee over here and paint the whole field.”Before Turf Tank, Keith and a six-to-eight person crew needed four days to paint a field by hand. That included yard markers, numbers, end-zone logos, and a midfield emblem. Keith oversees multiple venues, including Stetson University’s facilities and a nearby Little League complex. Cutting field-painting time freed his staff for other work across the city.The robot does not remove humans from the process entirely. Crews still manually spray colored end zones and monitor the machine for issues.“It’s basically everything that you’re used to doing,” Keith said. “It’s just allowing the robot physically on the field.”Turf Tank began as a high school project in 2014 under the name Intelligent Marking. Danish natives Anders Sorensen and Anders Ydesen later partnered with Jason Aldridge to formally launch the company in 2016. Since then, Turf Tank robots have been sold across the United States.According to reports cited by the Los Angeles Times, Turf Tank machines are now used by eight NFL teams, MLS and NWSL clubs, and hundreds of colleges. Smaller markets may benefit the most. Limited staffs often manage multiple venues with tight timelines.Each robot uses a remote base station connected to satellites to map GPS coordinates for precise field layouts. The model used in DeLand was a 102-pound Turf Tank Two Pro. It holds 5.5 gallons of paint. Ken Rathman, Turf Tank’s special operations manager, emphasized why precision matters.“Here in football and other sports too, inches means if you’re winning a game or losing a game,” Rathman said.According to Turf Tank data displayed at the stadium, a football field without logos can be marked in under 3.5 hours. Baseball fields can be completed in just over 10 minutes using less than a gallon of paint.Keith has already expanded automation beyond line marking. He now uses robotic lawn mowers at Spec Martin Stadium and the Sperling Sports Complex.The goal is not convenience. It is safety. “We also need to keep these kids safe,” Keith said. “That’s the No. 1 goal of every turf manager, safety first.”The 2026 Under Armour Next All-America Game kicks off Saturday, Jan. 3, at 4 p.m. Eastern and will air live on ESPN. The field will look perfect. The work behind it took fewer people, fewer hours, and fewer errors. That is the point.