The Auburn football program is officially getting a new, state-of-the-art facility set to be completed in 2022. The $91.1 million project was approved by the board of trustees in February and last week Rabren General Contractors was awarded the contract.
Located on Biggio Drive at the former site of Hutsell Track, the ground has been broken on what will be the 233,400 square foot complex. According to the Auburn Villager, the football program has made several building changes over the years:
"When the football program headquarters moved from the cramped old fieldhouse north of the football stadium to the coliseum in 1969, that was a major upgrade. After out-growing their space in the coliseum in 1989 the Tigers moved across the street to the current football complex, which at the time was about as nice as it gets for that type of facility. Since then almost everybody in the SEC has built larger and nicer facilities."
Coach Bryan Harsin told Andy Burcham that the new facility shows a commitment to football from Auburn, per Auburn Undercover.
"“It’s huge,” Harsin said Monday on Talking Tigers with Andy Burcham. “Let me just say this: This was in the works, so our athletic department, our university, Allen Greene — having the vision for this type of facility, that obviously shows the commitment to football and the athletic department. Because it will be a tool for not just football but everyone on this campus to help us represent Auburn University in a first-class way, in my opinion.”"
Harsin hasn’t been the only one showing excitement about the facility, though. 2022 quarterback commit Holden Geriner shared a virtual tour of the facility on Twitter, and that video is being sent to Auburn football’s recruits.
The building schedule for the Football Performance Center is aggressive, to say the least, with the scheduled finished date in just over a year. However, the rush is necessary for Auburn to keep up with its SEC opponents, according to Jason Caldwell and Mark Murphy.
Thank you @AuburnU BOT & President Gogue.
— Allen Greene (@AGreeneIV) September 13, 2019
We are grateful for all who have supported our vision of a state-of-the-art football performance center.
We are confident the Auburn Family will continue to respond to make this project a reality.#WarEaglehttps://t.co/haeFkMxHAv
“When you walk through that facility, if you don’t have your chest out, head up, feeling like OK, I want to be a part of this,” Harsin said, via Auburn Undercover. Hopefully, future recruits will feel the same way.