Auburn football: Owen Pappoe “hasn’t seen anything like” the new facility

Auburn football will finally have its own, dedicated facility in the year 2022, and the ground-breaking ceremony was held over the weekend. Athletic Director Allen Greene, Auburn University President Jay Gogue, and Auburn football player Owen Pappoe were present at the ceremony on Saturday.

The new 233,400 square foot facility, which sits on the former site of the old Hartsell Track, was set to be complete in July of 2022, but Tom Green of AL.com reports that the new finish date is set between August and November of 2022 and broke down what will be housed in the new facility:

"The facility… will include two full-size outdoor practice fields, a 95,000-square foot indoor practice facility, weight room, players’ locker room, a players’ lounge called “The Huddle,” a barbershop, two recording studios, a flight simulator and team meeting rooms. It will also have offices for coaches and football administrators, serve as the new home to Auburn’s sports medicine and nutrition programs, the equipment department — with Greene describing it as more of a “laboratory” for associate athletics director Dana Marquez and his staff — as well as a 50-person hydrotherapy plunge pool, an indoor teaching lab and laundry space."

Pappoe, a former 5-star recruit who took visits to top-ranked programs including Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, and LSU, said that the new facility was unlike anything he’d ever seen before, which is a big statement coming from a well-traveled former prospect.

Greene, among others, hopes that the new facility will boost Auburn football’s recruiting abilities. Combined with the family atmosphere and the beautiful campus, a state-of-the-art dedicated football facility could give the Tigers the edge they need over top recruiting programs.

This will be especially important for Bryan Harsin as he works to establish a reputation with recruits in the south and as he tries to build up the rosters in the coming years.