Gators AD Scott Stricklin: New football facility will not have 'gold-plated toilets and waterfalls.
Per Bianchi in an Orlando Sentinel article:
Just to be clear, Florida Gators Athletics Director Scott Stricklin says his program’s new stand-alone football facility is going to be nice, but not over-the-top ostentatious.
“You don’t want to be frivolous,” Stricklin said on our Open Mike radio show the other day when talking about UF’s $130 million in upcoming projects that include $65 million for a new football facility, $50 million for a new baseball stadium and $11 million in improvements to the softball stadium. “We’re not going to have gold-plated toilets in any of these facilities. We’re not going to have waterfalls in the locker rooms. … You want to make sure you’re spending in a really smart way.
“One of the great benefits of being at a place like Florida is, you can do really nice, first-class facilities but you don’t have to be gimmicky about it in order to get attention,” Stricklin added. “The University of Florida brand is really strong, and young people are going to want to come visit our campus, and fans are going to want to come and support them. At some places — and I’m not talking about anybody in particular — you do things to create a wow factor, or to create an interest or to make it different. And at some places, that’s perfectly reasonable to do, but I don’t think we’re in that position.”
Still, there’s no question Stricklin is trying to upgrade Florida’s facilities in a hurry. In fact, after the latest round of $130 million in improvements, there are already plans to renovate The Swamp itself with more premium seating and other fan amenities.
Stricklin, of course, replaced Jeremy Foley — one of the most successful ADs in college history. If there is one knock on Foley, it is that he wasn’t quick enough to upgrade UF’s football facilities.
Not that Foley didn’t invest in facilities. Near the end of his quarter-century tenure, the Gators spent nearly $110 million to renovate the basketball arena, build a state-of-the-art academic center for athletes and erect an indoor practice facility for the football team.
But there’s no question, the Gators were a little late to the party in building the football indoor practice facility and the proposed stand-alone football complex. In fact, if former coach Jim McElwain can be credited with anything, it’s that he made UF realize that its football facilities were not up to snuff.
Personally, I believe the reason UF’s football facilities started to lag is because coaches such as Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer were winning championships at UF with the existing facilities and, thus, the Gators developed a false sense of security. Spurrier and Meyer are two of the greatest coaches in college football history and didn’t need palatial facilities to compete nationally at a place like Florida. But when the great Nick Saban took over at Alabama and started building grandiose facilities and adding dozens and dozens of people to his expansive support staff, the rules quickly changed.
Saban obviously has upped the ante on facilities and infrastructure throughout college football. Some call it the escalation of an arms race, but Stricklin says that sports facilities upgrades are no different than academic factions of the university self-improving themselves.
“You can go back and look at any archival photo of these college campuses when 100 years ago they had a fraction of buildings they currently have,” Stricklin says. “Every college campus has grown over time and a lot of that growth deals with buildings — whether it’s academic buildings or athletic facilities. This is not anything new. Every campus wants to put its young people in the best position to succeed. I don’t think it’s [an] arms race.
“The fact of the matter is, your facilities on a college campus end up saying a lot about what’s important to you,” Stricklin adds. “By investing in our facilities on a regular basis, I think it shows that athletics are important to the University of Florida…. It all comes down to, ‘How are we making the Gators better?’ ”
To listen to our entire interview with Stricklin, click here.
So are we in trouble with a haughty attitude?
Per Bianchi in an Orlando Sentinel article:
Just to be clear, Florida Gators Athletics Director Scott Stricklin says his program’s new stand-alone football facility is going to be nice, but not over-the-top ostentatious.
“You don’t want to be frivolous,” Stricklin said on our Open Mike radio show the other day when talking about UF’s $130 million in upcoming projects that include $65 million for a new football facility, $50 million for a new baseball stadium and $11 million in improvements to the softball stadium. “We’re not going to have gold-plated toilets in any of these facilities. We’re not going to have waterfalls in the locker rooms. … You want to make sure you’re spending in a really smart way.
“One of the great benefits of being at a place like Florida is, you can do really nice, first-class facilities but you don’t have to be gimmicky about it in order to get attention,” Stricklin added. “The University of Florida brand is really strong, and young people are going to want to come visit our campus, and fans are going to want to come and support them. At some places — and I’m not talking about anybody in particular — you do things to create a wow factor, or to create an interest or to make it different. And at some places, that’s perfectly reasonable to do, but I don’t think we’re in that position.”
Still, there’s no question Stricklin is trying to upgrade Florida’s facilities in a hurry. In fact, after the latest round of $130 million in improvements, there are already plans to renovate The Swamp itself with more premium seating and other fan amenities.
Stricklin, of course, replaced Jeremy Foley — one of the most successful ADs in college history. If there is one knock on Foley, it is that he wasn’t quick enough to upgrade UF’s football facilities.
Not that Foley didn’t invest in facilities. Near the end of his quarter-century tenure, the Gators spent nearly $110 million to renovate the basketball arena, build a state-of-the-art academic center for athletes and erect an indoor practice facility for the football team.
But there’s no question, the Gators were a little late to the party in building the football indoor practice facility and the proposed stand-alone football complex. In fact, if former coach Jim McElwain can be credited with anything, it’s that he made UF realize that its football facilities were not up to snuff.
Personally, I believe the reason UF’s football facilities started to lag is because coaches such as Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer were winning championships at UF with the existing facilities and, thus, the Gators developed a false sense of security. Spurrier and Meyer are two of the greatest coaches in college football history and didn’t need palatial facilities to compete nationally at a place like Florida. But when the great Nick Saban took over at Alabama and started building grandiose facilities and adding dozens and dozens of people to his expansive support staff, the rules quickly changed.
Saban obviously has upped the ante on facilities and infrastructure throughout college football. Some call it the escalation of an arms race, but Stricklin says that sports facilities upgrades are no different than academic factions of the university self-improving themselves.
“You can go back and look at any archival photo of these college campuses when 100 years ago they had a fraction of buildings they currently have,” Stricklin says. “Every college campus has grown over time and a lot of that growth deals with buildings — whether it’s academic buildings or athletic facilities. This is not anything new. Every campus wants to put its young people in the best position to succeed. I don’t think it’s [an] arms race.
“The fact of the matter is, your facilities on a college campus end up saying a lot about what’s important to you,” Stricklin adds. “By investing in our facilities on a regular basis, I think it shows that athletics are important to the University of Florida…. It all comes down to, ‘How are we making the Gators better?’ ”
To listen to our entire interview with Stricklin, click here.
So are we in trouble with a haughty attitude?
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