Mitchell High coach transforms football field into works of art

TRINITY, Fla. - Crafting defensive schemes on the football field is an art form. Luckily for Mitchell High School defensive coordinator Justin Fenton, he has both the schemes and the artwork down pretty good. 

"Being a visually minded person, I don't necessarily think of the plays I'm calling. I'm looking at the diagram in my mind," said Fenton. 

After school, Fenton is busy helping the Mustangs prepare for their next opponent. Before the final bell rings, however, he teaches 3D Art Design and AP Art History classes. 

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"I've always done art. I'm an artistic guy," Fenton said. "In high school, I designed our game programs."

These days, though, he does a lot more than design game programs. Once a year, in fact, Fenton and the rest of the coaching staff turn their home field into a blank canvas. 

"We love doing it. It's kind of a challenge to ourselves to see how good we can make it," said Mustangs head coach Andrew Schmitz.

Each year during Mitchell's homecoming, Fenton puts his art degree to use by designing and painting a midfield logo on the school's field. 

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"It's also become an event where teachers are asking 'what is it going to be this year? What do you guys have in store?'" said Fenton. 

This year, what he had in store for the school brought a little bit of Death Valley to Pasco County. Using the very techniques developed by Leonardo DaVinci, and the techniques he teaches to his students, Fenton recreated Louisiana State's home field on their turf.

Over the course of two days, he and the coaching staff sketched out a mustang eye inspired by LSU's eye of a tiger. 

"As an art teacher, I would like to say I get to do a lot of art, but I really don't," said Fenton. "So, it is nice that, once a year, I get to make something. And, who wouldn't want a 45 or 50-yard canvas to work on?"  

And though the physical painting takes a day or two, the actual process for this Pasco County Picasso starts weeks in advance. 

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"I think art, and any kind of sports, is competitive. You want to challenge yourself," said Fenton. 

Though he has a few staple designs he tends to stick with, he always had to try and one-up himself every year. 

"If you want to build something that is beautiful, you've got to break something that's just good," he said. 

And just like his defense, Fenton also rises to the occasion each season.