The Arms Race: Where UF Stands to the Rest of the SEC When It Comes to Facilities

Where does UF stand against the rest of the SEC in terms of facilities? Photo Credit: Alex Shepherd

“People buy with their eyes” – Doc Holliday, legendary recruiter, former UF assistant under Urban Meyer and formerly Marshall head football coach

Toward the end of his 12-year run as the football coach at the University of Florida, Steve Spurrier lost a recruiting battle for a highly coveted offensive lineman because of better dorm rooms at the University of Georgia. That was 20 years ago and several years before an all-out arms race began in the Southeastern Conference.

The prevailing attitude of Florida’s athletic administration during the Spurrier years and in the years immediately after as the arms race in the SEC began to heat up to unmatched proportions was “facilities are overrated … this is Florida.” It is that attitude that has plunged Florida into a scramble to catch up as one school after another has upgraded facilities. Athletes in nearly every sport that used to come to Florida simply because it was Florida, have been looking elsewhere the last ten years. As Doc Holliday said, they’re buying with their eyes.

A good example of arms race impact happened in South Carolina where Clemson’s heavy investment in facilities created a reversal of fortune. From 2010-13 Steve Spurrier led the University of South Carolina to the greatest four-year era in school history, going 42-11 with four straight wins over Clemson. Aided by a commitment to better facilities, Clemson has seen its recruiting profile go through the roof. The Tigers are 89-10 since the 2014 season with two national championships, two second place finishes and six consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoff.

In 2017, Clemson threw a 50-gallon can of gasoline on an already raging fire, by opening the $55 million Allen N. Reeves Football Complex, which includes a nap room, miniature golf course, Wiffle ball field, bowling lanes, a barber shop, a recording studio and a slide that will take players inconvenienced by stairs down from the second floor to the first. South Carolina did fight back. Spurrier helped jumpstart a commitment to South Carolina facilities with a large donation toward what is now the Steve and Jeri Spurrier Indoor Practice Facility. Since then the Cyndi and Kenneth Long Football Operations Center opened with nearly as many amenities as the one 132 miles upstate in Clemson.

Unfortunately for South Carolina, by the time the decision was made to fight back, recruits were already buying with their eyes and rushing to Clemson where they saw a commitment to better facilities. The recruiting battles Spurrier won from 2010-13 became lost causes, in large part because South Carolina was late to go toe-to-toe with its chief rival.

The University of Florida has suffered a similar fate as it spent far too many years without a serious commitment to building better facilities. Never was that more evident than 2014 when then UF athletic director Jeremy Foley stated, “I wear orange and blue goggles a lot and I’m certainly willing to have wide-open eyes but I don’t agree with the assessment our facilities have fallen behind … As you look around our facilities, we’re not into bells and whistles. We’re always looking to upgrade our facilities, but we’re not getting into an arms race.”

It was more than just bells and whistles, however, and it has proven to be a costly miscalculation. Not every school has spent lavishly the way Clemson did in the ACC or that South Carolina did to answer its rival. Not everyone has forked out as much cash as Alabama and Texas A&M, both of which have upgraded their entire athletic plants. Texas A&M felt it needed a new football stadium to compete for recruits in the SEC. So, over a two-year period it gutted Kyle Field and rebuilt from the ground up to the point that it’s one of the two or three best stadiums in the country. The cost? $485 million paid for up front in cash.

It’s said that only God and the Longhorns have more money than the Aggies, but everyone else in the league has spent record amounts of cash upgrading facilities starting with the advent of the SEC Network. Since it went online, every school in the SEC has picked up a guaranteed $20 million extra and that eliminated a substantial amount of the financial risk associated with upgrading. And, with a new contract from ESPN that will guarantee an additional $20 million and a yearly per school payout from the league in excess of $60 million, everyone including Vanderbilt has taken the plunge.

Even the University of Florida has gotten involved although the perception remains that UF has been an almost reluctant participant in the league-wide facilities building boom. Foley prided himself on running a fiscally tight ship so every check that was written for construction was like drawing blood from a turnip. Meanwhile, schools like Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU spent without hesitation. Florida’s price for a late start is best seen on the recruiting trails as athletes who used to flock to Florida in nearly every sport have been saying no to the Gators and yes to schools perceived to have a stronger financial commitment.

On one hand, it doesn’t make sense. In the SEC, the University of Florida is second only to Vanderbilt in terms of academics. Only Texas A&M has a larger student body and a greater number of living alumni. Only Texas (30+ million) has a larger population base than Florida (22+ million) among the states that make up the SEC. Financially, Florida has done well, but UF ranks only 10th nationally in athletic department revenues, a surprising fourth in the Southeastern Conference.

Despite all the money, Florida is middle-of-the-pack, somewhere around seventh or eighth in the league when you look at the entire athletic plants from top to bottom.

Here is a sport-by-sport assessment of Florida’s athletic programs from the standpoint of facilities and how they stack up against the rest of the SEC.

FOOTBALL

Since football is the financial engine that turns the wheels of the entire athletic program, this is the first place to start.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium: The Swamp has lost some of its luster and while some of that can be attributed to football teams that haven’t won an SEC title since 2008, it also has to do with a stadium that lacks amenities and packs fans in like sardines. In terms of being a tough place to play, there are few places more intimidating on hot afternoons when the stadium is packed. During the past decade, however, wins were harder to come by and that only exacerbated how The Swamp had fallen back to middle of the SEC pack. Tiger Stadium, Bryant-Denny Stadium, Kyle Field, Jordan-Hare Stadium are all perceived to be superior venues to BHG.

Practice facilities: Nightmare. The practice fields were in such bad shape in the Will Muschamp era that he lived in constant fear that players were going to break ankles or tear up knees. When UF finally got around to building a long-needed indoor practice facility, the initial plan was a 70-yard field. When Jim McElwain objected and demanded a 100-yard indoor field, some genius in the UF planning department didn’t include end zones, scoreboards, bathrooms and other details. That caused delays and cost overruns. And, the location eliminated one of the grass fields. UF now has only one 100-yard grass outdoor field, a 70-yard artificial turf outdoor field and the indoor field. Alabama, for example, has an indoor practice field, three 100-yard outdoor grass fields and a 100-yard artificial turf outdoor practice field.

Performance facilities: Florida’s weight room was upgraded during the Muschamp era but it is still way behind most of the SEC. The Davis Performance Center at Texas A&M and the Bill Battle Performance Center at Alabama make Florida’s facilities pale by comparison.

Football operations facility: Florida’s will open next year where the old McKethan Stadium was located. While needed and welcomed, it’s a good five or six years late. The LSU Football Operations Center and the Fred Smith Center at Arkansas are outstanding, but the Bright Football Complex at Texas A&M and the Cyndi and Kenneth Long Center at South Carolina are the best.

BASKETBALL

Stephen C. O’Connell Center: Back in 1985 when the San Francisco Giants were still playing at Candlestick Park, it was suggested that the stadium desperately needed an overhaul to which KNBR’s Ron Lyons said, “That would be like putting lipstick on a pig.” That’s pretty much what happened when the O-Dome was gutted and renovated. Even though the overruns were well in excess of the original budgets, the O-Dome is nothing more than a lipstick-wearing pig. It is indeed an improvement over what it was, but it’s anything but a first class arena. For a few dollars more than what was spent on the O-Dome renovation, UF could have built a palace like they did at Ole Miss for $90 or so million or at Auburn (a bit more than $80 million). The arena can accommodate volleyball and gymnastics quite nicely but there is no room for indoor track. There are at least seven better basketball arenas in the league. Bud Walton Arena at Arkansas is the best in the league. Florida can’t touch The Bud.

Basketball practice facilities: They were great when they were first built, behind the times now when everyone has built new and better facilities. Kentucky and Tennessee have the best in the SEC.

BASEBALL

Florida Ballpark: After years of playing in a substandard facility, Kevin O’Sullivan finally has the kind of ball yard that will make recruiting so much easier. The new stadium seats 7,000, can be expanded to more than 10,000 and has shade, something that kept fans away in droves at McKethan on hot afternoons. Practice and performance facilities are exceptional. About the only complaint is not enough parking, but parking was a problem at McKethan as well. That the stadium is only the fourth or fifth best in the SEC is not indicative that corners were cut or that UF underbuilt. It’s just that several of the stadiums such as the ones at Arkansas, LSU and Mississippi State would be outstanding Class AAA minor league parks.

SOFTBALL

Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium: The new Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium is the best in the SEC, completely gutted and renovated in 2017 at a price of $15 million. The practice and performance facilities are first rate. It’s the kind of ball park and facility you expect for a team that has won two national championships and has made it to the Women’s College World Series eight times.

TRACK AND FIELD

Percy Beard Track: That Mike Holloway has won nine national championships (five outdoor, four indoor) with Florida’s facilities is water changed to wine miraculous. “He deserves better,” a track letterman told me. “Nobody does more with less.” The Percy Beard Track was once one of the palaces of the college track circuit, but no more. There is no indoor facility, which makes the four indoor national titles even more amazing. Florida’s facilities are bottom half of the SEC and can’t come close to comparing to those of Arkansas or LSU or Texas A&M.

GYMNASTICS

Stephen C. O’Connell Center: Sellout crowds are not unusual. The renovated O-Dome is actually one of the best gymnastics venues in the entire country, easily the best in the Southeastern Conference and it attracts recruiting classes that rank annually among the best in the country.

Ted Crom Gymnastics Studio: The practice facility was gutted and renovated in 2012. It’s one of the best in the country, which is fitting for a 3-time national championship program that is a regular in the final four at the NCAA Championships. The only practice facilities that can really compare in the SEC are at Alabama and Georgia.

VOLLEYBALL

Stephen C. O’Connell Center: Home matches are played at the O-Dome, where the Gators draw good crowds and enjoy a very good home court advantage. Barnhill Arena at Arkansas and Kentucky Memorial Coliseum are cozier and make the crowds a bit more intimidating but Florida has a 30-year track record of success under Mary Wise, who has done everything possible in college volleyball except win the big one.

Lemerand Athletic Center: Volleyball practice facilities are good but not great but Mary Wise continues to recruit at a high level. Kentucky and Tennessee have invested heavily in the sport. Tennessee’s Cronan Volleyball Center is an outstanding standalone facility.

GOLF

Mark Bostic Golf Course: It has been years since Florida was a true national power in a sport that weather says it should dominate. Getting good recruits to come play on the UF course is a serious issue. The original course was designed by legendary Donald Ross more than 100 years ago. It has been renovated and reconfigured on more than one occasion, most recently in 2001. This is like the O-Dome in that further renovations would be like applying lipstick to a pig. The course is only 6,700 yards and ranks on the low end of home golf courses in the SEC. UF could have bought the financially struggling Gainesville Golf and Country Club, which has hosted some mini-pro tour events in the past. Former UF golfers complain that not enough has been done to reach out to Gators on the PGA Tour to get them to donate the way former Georgia golfers give to that program. Bad course. Bad locker rooms. Bad facility in general. And we wonder why Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss and LSU continually outrecruit UF.

Chris M. Kane Golf Practice Facility: The best description for this eyesore is “disastrous.” The second best description is “embarrassment.”

TENNIS

Ring tennis center: “Our facilities are pretty poor and there’s no excuse for it,” one former UF tennis letterman told me. “How Coach Bryan Shelton can recruit at a high levelis amazing. You think about how much it rains in Florida and how few indoor courts we have.” Shelton has the Gators ranked No. 1 nationally even with facilities that are ranked lower half of the SEC. After years of dominance, the Florida women have been slipping, in part because better players have gone where there are better facilities. Georgia is the gold standard when it comes to tennis facilities in the SEC.

SWIMMING

Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium: Despite very average facilities, the Florida men have won nine consecutive SEC championships. Florida hasn’t won a men’s national title since 1984 and the last women’s national championship was 2010. A new pool and diving facility equal to the ones at Georgia and Texas A&M would help, but when it’s obvious that isn’t a plan that is on the drawing board for anytime in the near future.

SOCCER/LACROSSE

Donald R. Dizney Stadium: This is the best lacrosse facility in the Southeastern Conference (UF and Vanderbilt field the only two teams) and it ranks among the best soccer venues. Plans are on the drawing board to upgrade practice and performance facilities while moving operations from the Lemerand Center to the stadium on the west side of campus.

ACADEMICS/NUTRITION

The Otis Hawkins Center has been a welcome addition since it opened its doors in 2016. Florida athletes consistently perform at high levels in the classroom in every sport thanks to an unparalleled commitment to academics. Football, for example, finished the spring semester with a team GPA of more than 3.0. Athletes who come to the University of Florida understand they’re going to be given every opportunity to leave with a meaningful degree. The Hawkins Center rates with the best academic centers for athletes in the conference.

The Hawkins Center has become a shining jewel for the Gators. Photo Courtesy: UAA, Credit-Tim Casey

When the new football operations center is open, it will house the dining and nutrition center for UF athletes, something that has been lagging for awhile. Auburn, Alabama and Kentucky all have 24-hour chefs on duty to make sure athletes are well fed. Florida, to its credit, was one of the first schools in the league to hire full-time nutritionists.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Like it or not, there is an arms race in the Southeastern Conference. It’s no longer good enough to simply say winning cures everything. If you recruit better athletes and give them good coaching, you should win, but the times have changed. There was a time when the University of Florida could get by with average or in some circumstances, below average facilities, but that was then and this is now. Good coaching has always been a requirement, but it takes more in these challenging times. Kids will gravitate to the school that does the best job of combining good coaching with the best facilities. Facilities have become the ultimate tiebreaker. It’s as if there is this unwritten rule that goes something like this: When in doubt, pick the school with the best facilities because that is tangible evidence of commitment.

To once again quote Doc Holliday: “People buy with their eyes.” For too much of the past 10 years, athletes weren’t seeing what they wanted to buy at the University of Florida. Things are changing, but can UF stop the slide and regain a foothold in recruiting? That remains to be seen but at least the effort to put a best foot forward when it comes to facilities is being made. After a decade of losing its grip, Florida is fighting back.