Stanford’s role in Super Bowl LX goes beyond the practice field

As the New England Patriots practice at Stanford this week ahead of Super Bowl LX, the University is executing a plan years in the making that extends far beyond preparing a football field.

Since 2023, Stanford’s athletic department staff have been preparing to organize operations, facilities and security for whichever AFC team would ultimately use campus during Super Bowl week.

The Patriots are practicing in Stanford Stadium before facing the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday for the Lombardi Trophy at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers.

“It’s not just another football game,” said Keith Juricich, Stanford’s Associate Athletics Director of Operations and Events. “The amount of detail and planning that goes into this week is something that I think most don’t get access to. And we’re very fortunate and lucky that we at least get to see it.”

While most fans will only see the action on Sunday, the week leading up to the Super Bowl is defined by years of coordination, with Stanford playing an important behind-the-scenes role in supporting the most-watched annual television event in the U.S.

Stanford departments critical to hosting the Patriots include the operations and events team, grounds crew, strength and conditioning staff and public safety. 

The NFL has also been doing walkthroughs since the late summer to ensure ideal conditions for the practice field. They also organized their own extensive security for the Patriots.

“The teams come with CHP and tactical vehicles that are in that escort along with SWAT and security around the stadium. They do K9 dog sweeps an hour before the team arrives, and then everything’s locked down,” Juricich said.

A decade ago, Stanford also hosted the Denver Broncos’ practices as they prepared for Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers, which also took place in Levi’s Stadium. 

“You could tell that hosting 10 years ago just eases everybody’s mind. Everybody knows Stanford’s been there, done that,” Juricich said. “They trust us and we’ve built that relationship and that rapport. It’s just nice to have that type of reputation”

Levi’s Stadium was announced as the host of this year’s Super Bowl on May 22, 2023. Juricich said that once that happened, the Bay Area Host Committee reached out and helped put on the entirety of the event.

Stanford student-athletes have also been able to coexist with the team while on campus. 

“The Patriots didn’t care about exclusivity,” Juricich said. “They were fine with our athletes training at the same time, which was really cool. The vibe was great.”

“They haven’t really disrupted our schedules,” said Kate Bellissimo, a fifth-year Stanford lacrosse player. “They were supposed to practice at the same time as the rowing team and they basically took the back half of the weight room. I think we were all kind of surprised that they didn’t just take the main room.”

Bellissimo said the proximity gave Stanford athletes a look into how an elite NFL team prepares.

“They definitely have a routine for everything and everything’s very planned out. It’s surgical in a sense,” she said. “It’s also kind of fun to see that they do a lot of things similarly. Their away trips and how we operate some of our away trips are actually kind of similar. The biggest difference I would say is that the mass of staff that they travel with is insane.”

News that the AFC champions would be practicing on campus has also generated interest among the student body, with some wishing there was more access.

“I guess I understand that we’re not allowed to go see them,” freshman Jed Kassoy said, “because then there would probably be people from all across the nation also coming to see them.”

“Still, it feels very exciting,” Kassoy said. “Just the other day, I was playing spikeball at Wilbur Field and some people drove by in a truck with an NBC Super Bowl LX logo. We were giving them directions and actually kind of got them lost, but it’s just very cool to be in such close proximity to the Super Bowl and these professional athletes.”

Hosting the Patriots continues Stanford’s storied history with the NFL’s biggest game, as Super Bowl XIX took place at Stanford Stadium in 1985. Stanford’s football program has also produced two Super Bowl MVPs, quarterbacks Jim Plunkett (Super Bowl XV) and John Elway (XXXIII). Current Patriots tight end Austin Hooper is also a Stanford football alumni.

Sunday’s game will be a rematch of 2015’s Super Bowl XLIX, which ended in a Patriots victory after the Seahawks made a controversial decision to pass on the Patriots’ one yard line, resulting in a game-sealing interception for New England. The Seahawks will be preparing for Sunday’s game at San Jose State University.

“It feels like the fact that they would practice here means that Stanford’s got a good football field, respectable football program, and it means that we were thought of,” Kassoy said. “It means that we can house the potential Super Bowl champions.”

For Stanford, the week is less about the spotlight and more about providing the Patriots space for something much bigger. 

“We’re just going to let them do their thing because they have something that is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Juricich said. 

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