Facility Upgrade Big Piece In NU's Return To Elite

Truth be told, Scott Frost didn't have facility upgrades on his long "to-do" list when he became coach of the Nebraska football program. Wasn't even on his radar. While perhaps not flashy, the Huskers' amenities have been attractive, serviceable and, for the most part, have met the program's needs.
 
"Our facilities right now are even good enough," freshman receiver Wan'Dale Robinson said. "Better than a lot of places already."
 
Over time, though, Frost discovered Nebraska had indeed fallen behind its Big Ten brethren, not to mention other national bluebloods that continue to reel in the nation's top recruits with flashy new digs. Since Nebraska built its current home in North Stadium in 2006, all but two other Power-Five conference schools have built or upgraded their football facilities.
 
Nebraska's turn has come to make a move in the arms race.
 
"As the conversation kept going," Frost said, "we decided if we're going to have to do it at some point, now is the time. Now is the time, while the football program is building, everybody can feel it growing, while there's momentum."
 
Frost made those remarks Friday afternoon during a special ceremony outside Memorial Stadium to announce Nebraska's "Go Big" facility project – a $155 million, 350,000-square foot complex that will house the football program while also benefiting Nebraska student-athletes in all sports.
 
The few hundred spectators on hand, who also listened to speeches from Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos and Chancellor Ronnie Green, enjoyed a video of the plans. The presentation occurred only a few hundred yards from the live set for ESPN's College "GameDay" ahead of Saturday night's 6:30 p.m. game against Ohio State on ABC.
 
"I think it's important for us going forward as a state, as a university and as a football team to make sure that we're committed to competing at the highest level," Frost said. "This is evidence that the University of Nebraska is committed to making sure that we do everything we can to compete at the highest level."
 
The facility will provide the Nebraska football program with a new locker room, strength and conditioning center, athletic medicine facility, equipment room, meeting rooms, coaches' offices and an additional outdoor practice field. Plans for the building also include the training table and academic support facilities for student-athletes across all 24 Nebraska sports.
 
"It will be a state of the art, best facility of its kind," Moos said, "and I know, because I've seen almost all of them in the country."
 
The new athletic complex will be east and north of Memorial Stadium, on part of the current location of Ed Weir Track. The plan is to begin construction next summer, with a target completion date in time for the beginning of the 2022 football season.


 
"We want to win, and we want to win right," Moos said. "We want to build a program that's sustainable, that year-in and year-out we can be in the picture."
 
To do that, Moos said, Nebraska must not only continue to build the walk-on program, comprised mostly of local talent, but also win head-to-head recruiting battles with the nation's top programs.
 
"We need to be in those same high schools and junior colleges to get that caliber of talent," Moos said, "if we want to get some more banners."
 
Green said Nebraska has already made significant progress in raising $100 million privately to support the project, with fundraising beginning in earnest over the last couple of months. Trust funds and financing will take care of the remaining dollar amount.
 
Nebraska's Athletic Department receives no state dollars or student fees, and in fact gives funds back to the university. It annually provides more than $10 million to the general University fund, including $5 million to provide scholarships for non student-athletes. 
 
"I already realize the impact sports can have on you and everything that it gives to you," said Robinson, who also spoke at the ceremony. "This place stands for commitment, excellence, championships, and I feel like this facility is going to help us achieve that even more."
 
The project will go to the board of trustees in October for approval, Green said, and then the design process will continue to unfold. The project will return to the board of trustees with a final design in the spring, at which point the funding should be complete.
 
"As soon as we felt that we had the approval we needed and we're starting to raise money, I said, 'We got to let this thing out.' This is a big story," Moos said. "This is a way to wave our banner, not only for Nebraskans, but other people in the Big Ten and around the country looking over their shoulders.
 
"Like I said, we're going to get back to being a powerhouse in college football, and this is going to be a big, big piece of it."
 
As for the existing football facility in North Stadium, Moos said the Athletic Department's external operations, currently spread throughout Memorial Stadium and across the street, would occupy that space to be all in one location. That affects operations such as HuskerVision, ticket offices, development, communications and others.
 
The current weight room could turn into a "museum-type setting," Moos said, for social events, and showcase the accomplishments of Nebraska athletics.
 
"That's valuable space," Moos said, "and it will all be used."
 
Because the new complex will be built on the current outdoor track and field complex, Nebraska will construct a new outdoor track stadium north of the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Innovation Campus. The new outdoor track will be closer to Nebraska's indoor track facility and coaches' offices, which are housed at the Devaney Center.
 
That, Moos said, is a project with a separate budget from the football facility. He estimates the new track complex will have a price tag of nearly $13 million. He's not certain on the timeline for the project but said he believes it shouldn't affect the competitive seasons.
 
Nebraska built a men's and women's basketball and wrestling training complex in 2012, and the basketball teams began competing in sparkling Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013, the same year the volleyball program moved into a renovated Devaney Center. The women's soccer team beagn playing at Barbara Hibner Soccer Stadium in 2015, the same year the men's and women's tennis teams began competing in the adjacent Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center complex. Next year, the men's and women's gymnastics team will move into a state-of-the-art training facility on the north side of the Devaney Center. The bowling program is also undergoing major renovations to its home on East Campus.
 
And now, the football program will boast a facility second-to-none, with the men's and women's track and field teams to enjoy a new outdoor complex, too.
 
"Young people today are looking at, 'What can you do to help me get to where I want to be, with my dreams?' And we can do that pretty good right now," Moos said. "I think we're doing a good job of it.
 
"But when we get this building, it will be even that much better."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.