University of Arkansas Football Center Plans

I knew this was coming, but now that it's here... I'm overwhelmed!  Not only did I not expect this announcement now;  but the possibility it could be ready by the 2012 season leaves me speechless.

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Plans Announced for University of Arkansas Football Center

On Monday AD Jeff Long revealed the preliminary plans for an 80,000sq foot football operations center south of Reynolds Razorback Stadium, where the outdoor practice fields are currently located.  It is hoped construction of the $24-36 million facility can begin early enough next year for completion to be finished by the 2012 season opener.  The project will require approximately 18 months once ground is broken.  Long also introduced a tentative rendering for the UA’s athletics master plan, which affects several other Arkansas sports.  (much more & photos)

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This new master plan is the final piece of the puzzle that will further propel Razorback athletics into the upper echelon of college sports - and keep it there.  What better way to punctuate our current successes in recruiting some of the nation's best athletes in football, basketball, and baseball!

What a Special Time to be a Razorback!

Oh Jerry Jones you rascal you, whatchu want to bet he's got a whisper in this.  All good, Monsier Jones is a good dude from Danville.

The Layout

From various sources, here are the known details about the Razorback Football Center's proposed layout and usage.  Also, here is a better site for photographs of the architectural models and building layouts at ArkansasSports360

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The football operations center - as it's now referred to - includes:

• New locker room - current football locker room that is split into two divided dressing areas replaced by a single dressing area accommodating the entire team.
• Expanded meeting room space
• Athletic training room - allowing training staff to work more efficiently and effectively in providing preventative and rehabilitative medical care to student-athletes.
• Expanded equipment room
• Student-athlete lounge & study areas
• Coaches offices
• Recruiting reception area
• Razorback Football museum

Football IS First Priority of UA Master Plan

The football operations center is the “first priority” in a master plan for all athletic facilities.  It would address several areas limited by the current Broyles Athletic Center layout.  Among them, Arkansas will be able to house its administrative staff in the 64,692sq-foot Broyles Center, rather than in three different facilities on campus.  Arkansas will maintain a locker room in the Broyles Complex so the team can enter the stadium on game days from the north end zone.

Coach Petrino has been active in lobbying for and planning proposed changes to the current football operations setup.  This week he commented, "The ability to centralize our football operations will be utilized by our coaching staff as part of our comprehensive teaching and player development program.  An expansive athletic training room will help better facilitate the needs of our student-athletes.  This shows we have the vision and commitment to build a championship team."

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Football has seen a number of upgrades since Petrino was hired.  First came the purchase of $700,000 in video equipment.  Field turf was added to Reynolds Razorback Stadium at the cost of $1.1 million.  Graphics have been added throughout the team meeting space, and additional video upgrades were made to the football strength and conditioning center.

The football operations center is the “first priority” in a master plan for all athletic facilities.  It would address several areas limited by the current Broyles Athletic Center layout.  Among them, Arkansas will be able to house its administrative staff in the 64,692sq-foot Broyles Center, rather than in three different facilities on campus.  Arkansas will maintain a locker room in the Broyles Complex so the team can enter the stadium on game days from the north end zone.

Coach Petrino has been active in lobbying for and planning proposed changes to the current football operations setup.  This week he commented, "The ability to centralize our football operations will be utilized by our coaching staff as part of our comprehensive teaching and player development program.  An expansive athletic training room will help better facilitate the needs of our student-athletes.  This shows we have the vision and commitment to build a championship team." <hr style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: #ffffff; background-color: #ffffff; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-left-style: none; border-width: 1px; border-color: #d9d8d8;" /> Football has seen a number of upgrades since Petrino was hired.  First came the purchase of $700,000 in video equipment.  Field turf was added to Reynolds Razorback Stadium at the cost of $1.1 million.  Graphics have been added throughout the team meeting space, and additional video upgrades were made to the football strength and conditioning center.

All sounds great to me.  We are heading in a direction we would never have been under Nutt.  It truly is exciting to be a Razorback!

This is great and will help with recruiting big time.  I am sure that Jerry Jones and maybe John Daly is behind this being built.  It looks like a first class operation.  The improvements that will be made is somthing that has been needed for a long time.  Like you I am pleased to hear that they are hoping to have it finished by the 2012 season opener.

Like you said "What a Special Time to be a Razorback!"

Expansion Update

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Enclosing the Stadium
Stadium Expansion Would Be Revenue-Generator for Arkansas Athletic Department
October 3, 2010

• Includes:  New Architectual Photo:  Northeast aerial view of Razorback Football Center

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AD Jeff Long addressed the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club on Wednesday afternoon in regards to another aspect of Arkansas' football expansion plans - the enclosure of the north end zone of Razorback Stadium.  Presently there is a "hole" in the northwest corner of the stadium, which prevents the East and West sides from being connected by a concourse.

Long projects for this area an additional 4,000-6,000 seats - primarily of club and suite-type;  which would raise the stadium's capacity to around 80,000.  He further stated that this would not be an increase to 90,000, because the population base - and general ticket demand - is not there.

Arkansas has a donors waiting list to purchase these types of seats.  Judging from recent crowds in Razorback Stadium, there’s more than enough general seating.  While those aren’t consistently selling out, the Razorbacks do continue to have demand for premium seating, even with 134 suites in the stadium already.  Said Long, “Suites don’t turn over;  and when they do, they’re filled immediately, as we go down our priority list."  

Since the new operations center has to be completed first (within an estimated two years), Long predicted the stadium expansion to be five years out or more.

So this means that we most likely will be adding onto our stadium? How would that affect the grassy corner on the Northeast corner?

So this means that we most likely will be adding onto our stadium? How would that affect the grassy corner on the Northeast corner?

It would no doubt be filled in by "primarily club and suite-type" seating and a concourse connecting the East and West sides - making the entire stadium into a traditional style bowl.  I would guess the North endzone would mirror the South endzone in architecture.  Also, I expect the final result to be stunning!

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And, don't worry Alex - I suspect in five years you'll be raking in enough to afford season tix!

oh I hope so. lol. I'm excited that we are finally bowling in our stadium. It's time to keep the crowd noise in the stadium. (For the last two games, I've been highly disappointed in the lack of intensity in the stadium.) At the Bama game, the stadium was rocking! But against Ole Miss and Vandy, everyone was laid back (it was a little infuriating.) I don't get some hog fans though, I mean, everyone on the corner isn't really into the hog call like we were during the Bama game.

I know Ole Miss and Vandy were lesser opponents than Alabama, but I would love for our stadium to be rough every single home game. I love how Virginia Tech gets pumped up every game, I bet their stadium really rocks when the play "Enter Sandman" in the stadium. I like the tradition of jumping up and down on the seats to generate noise. Now if only the whole stadium would do that...

I agree, Alex.  I have always felt that Razorback fans should be pumping up the team, instead of waiting for the team to pump them up.

I should go out there and rile the crowd up next year. Maybe even at the UTEP game. I would most definitely do that. haha

Expansion Conversation

I just ran across a little conversation on the immediate expansion plans around Razorback Stadium and decided to pass it on to you guys.  This - from a couple posters over at woopig.net - expands on some of the previous conversation above.

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Excerpts from earlier 10-27 post:

The elevated practice fields are creative and a good solution... [providing] actual privacy for the coaches, although I doubt there will be anywhere for fans to watch practice.

Then, put another 6,000 Red Zone or Club type seats in the NEZ... and it would enhance both the look and the noise in the stadium. Say what you want, but the Bama game proved the noise problem in RRS isn't acoustics. 

This would also preserve what I believe is one of the most unique and beautiful views in the entire country: the ability to look down into RRS from all places north of the stadium.

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Then yesterday 11-22 about "how we don't fill our own seats":

Newsflash:  Neither does anyone else on a game-by-game basis. LSU was only 75% full at the end of our game last year. Why? The temperature dipped into the 50's towards the end.  You people romanticizing all these other schools and their attendance levels are out of your minds. South Carolina had somewhere around 70,000 when we played them. This is their best season... EVER.... against a top 15 team. Bama had about 65-70,000 Thursday night against Georgia State.  UGA had about 15,000 empty seats when they played us.

Auburn didn't even sell their game out when we played them - two top 15 teams! And even Tennessee... they'll quote they had nearly 100,000 in the seats this year, but anyone that has watched on TV knows those stands were nearly half empty many of their games.

Hog fans need to quit with the inferiority complex. NO ONE fills up their stadium every game, and most of the attendance numbers that you see are tickets sold and not butts in the seats.  We aren't as far behind as everyone wants to make us out to be.  We could fill around 80,000 seats on our biggest games, and put 65,000-70,000 for the rent-a-wins.  That's plenty.  You don't have to have the biggest stadium to be the elite.  We're firmly in the top 20, have a badass looking stadium, and a great atmosphere during the big games.

Bottom line - put 2,000 or so seats on the top of the south endzone. Finish out the North endzone with 4,000 or so club seats.  Be right around 80,000.  80k sounds nice, and we'll fill it up 2x a year.

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And, finally a random comment by another poster, regarding future tailgating in The Pit area:
   
I hear that the masterplan actually calls for one day that The Pit (north of NEZ) to be decked like lot 67 [future practice fields location] with greenspace on top as well.  If this happens, it will rival any tailgating in the country. That would be awesome.

So what's ya'lls opinion on the snout that the Hogs go through. I just noticed that during the UTEP game (since I actually got INTO the stadium) and was able to see it for the 1st time.

Slideshow:  Interior of the University of Arkansas Football Center

Early architectural renditions of the interior layout of the future Razorback Football Operations Center were just obtained and released in slideshow form by arkansassports360.  The six-slide presentation shows artist conceptions of its floor-plan, including a plush team meeting auditorium, player's lounge, locker room, and training room. 

No doubt, this will be one of the finest such facilities in the country.

• Link to Slideshow

Football Groundbreaking Set for Fall
By Matt Jones, nwaonline.com
April 20, 2011

FAYETTEVILLE - The groundbreaking for Arkansas’ new football operations center will happen some time this fall, UA athletics director Jeff Long said at a speaking engagement Tuesday night, according to a report in Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The center, which was first announced last October, will house new coaches’ offices, locker rooms, training rooms and lounges, among other amenities. The estimated cost for the project is between $24 million and $35 million.

“The timeline generally is some time this fall, and I’m sure we’ll do site work throughout the summer,” Long said at the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Club. “We’ll see something starting to happen in the fall. I can’t tell you if that’s September, October or November. We’re putting together those timelines now.”

The UA’s board of trustees approved a $25.25 million bond for the project last month and the school has raised at least $12 million in private donations, which are expected to fund the new facility. The completion of the center will take 18 months from the time ground is broken, meaning Arkansas could be in the facility prior to the 2013 season.