What we learned from Nebraska’s update on the progress of its new facility

Work continues outside Memorial Stadium on Nebraska’s new athletics facility that will serve countless Husker athletes in the years to come.

With an eye toward opening next summer, the exterior of the building has seen a major transformation over the last few months.

Associate Athletic Director for Capital Planning and Construction John Ingram provided an update on the facility’s status in a video released by Nebraska Athletics on social media last week.

“I think it’s a standalone, one-of-a-kind facility,” Ingram said. “It reflects Nebraska and we have a rich history, so we’re very fortunate that we don’t really have to do much to sell our history; that just speaks for itself. Now, we have to build on that legacy for the future and I think this building really does that.”

The plans for Nebraska’s new facility were announced in September 2019, with former athletic director Bill Moos spearheading the project. His successor, Trev Alberts, also recognized the need for major college football programs to have athletic facilities that stand out above the rest of the crowd.

While the project initially came with a $155 million price tag, inflation and rising costs led to Alberts seeking out donations to cover the additional $10 million needed to maintain the project. Alberts got just that, and construction remains on track.

“I truly believe that we’re going to have the premier development facility in college athletics,” Alberts said on Sept. 27. “That’s what our donors have brought. Obviously, that comes down to people, and that’s going to be really important, but from a physical component, based on where it’s located, the size, the capability, the technology in it, we’re going to have an opportunity to really be able to develop at a high level.”

While the interior of the facility is still far from completion, renderings from the athletic department’s promotional video show plans for a new locker room, strength and conditioning center, meeting rooms, recovery areas and recreation areas for players.

Ingram said that during the design process for the facility, a focus group of football players identified recovery areas as a key need, something that led to Nebraska implementing a recovery room in its new design. Additionally, Nebraska’s new athletic facility will also feature a walkthrough room that will give coaches the ability to identify something on tape and quickly show players in a hands-on environment.

“One of the elements that is adjacent to all the player meeting rooms is this state-of-the-art walkthrough room,” Ingram said. “I think there’s a few professional football teams that have this right now, but this one’s bigger and badder than any of them. It’s going to take our football teaching classroom to the next level.”

Facilities are only one aspect of why players choose a school, but having a brand-new athletic facility will help Nebraska stand out to prospective recruits. For an ace recruiter like Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph, that’s something he can sell players on.

“Any time you have a facility of that magnitude, I think that’s great for the university and the program,” Joseph said Thursday. “It helps you with your players because everything’s in-house, and it also helps you in recruiting because kids want to see nice things. It gives you a lot of energy heading forward in the future.”

Nebraska’s new athletic facility will also contain the training table and academic support areas for all student-athletes to access. But, it’s very much a case of a football-centric facility that will aim to draw players to Nebraska and develop them once they arrive in Lincoln.

Indeed, as Joseph pointed out, the new facility will help Nebraska keep all of its football activities under one roof whether it’s practice, team meetings, meals, film study or simple walkthroughs. In the busy world of college football where players have plenty on their plate, that’s a big advantage to have.

“Our hallways are packed with players all the time,” defensive coordinator Bill Busch said on Oct. 12. “They get here at 6 o’clock in the morning, and we have guys that are in this building until they leave in the evening.”

When it comes to Nebraska’s new football facility, that’s the vision. Players will be able to learn from their coaches, hang out with teammates, eat meals together and soak in all of their game preparation all day long.

All of that is with an eye toward the goal that motivated Nebraska to undertake such a project in the first place. For a program with aspirations of getting back to the pinnacle of college football, its facilities need to look the part.

And starting next summer, Nebraska will have just that.

“What this new facility is going to deliver for any potential student-athlete coming to Nebraska is player development,” Ingram said. “… After two years of planning, two years of construction, nine miles of concrete piles and 35,000 tons of steel, we’re bringing online 315,000 square feet of football facility that is second to none in the country.”