Written By: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

Though there are many opinions on the success of Fred Glass’ tenure as Indiana’s athletic director, an in-arguable positive came from the investment in improved facilities for all varsity sporting programs. For football, enclosing the stadium by adding a weight room, nutrition center, rehabilitation center, academic center, and improved locker room has completely transformed the experience at Memorial Stadium – both for fans and the athletes. The logical final step remains with Mellencamp Pavilion, the current indoor practice facility.

Investing in top notch facilities can play a large factor in a recruit’s college decision. To be the best, you must be able to train and compete like the best; and you can only do this in top-notch facilities. Schools across the nation are noticing this trend and starting to spend their money to keep up.

With the postponement of the fall football season, we decided to take a look at how the rest of the Big Ten’s facilities compare to Indiana’s recent upgrades.

University of Illinois

The Illini have also benefited from their recent investment in state-of-the-art facilities. On August 18, 2019, Lovie Smith and his staff unveiled their new Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center – a 107,650 square foot and $79.2 million facility. The facility is a one-stop shop dedicated solely to the football team and includes a long list of amenities: strength and conditioning and sports medicine space, coaches' offices, position meeting rooms, player development areas, locker rooms, and areas for recruiting and prospect hosting. Additional features include a grand lobby showcasing Illinois football history, a majestic head coaching suite with a two-sided fireplace and balcony, a bowling alley, a barber shop, miniature golf, and an NFL alumni locker room.

This facility replaced the over 30-year old structure that was previously being used by the Fighting Illini.

University of Iowa

Three buildings make up the Hawkeyes football facilities: the Stew and Lenore Hansen Football Performance Complex, the Ronald D. and Margaret L. Kenyon Outdoor Football Practice Facility, and the indoor practice facility.

The crown jewel of the facilities comes in the strength and conditioning area, part of the football performance complex. There you will find a 23,000 square foot football-specific workout room full of machines and turf open space training area. Hallways of the facility are lined with notable alumni, many of whom have moved on and played in the NFL. The center also includes a rehabilitation pool and numerous training tables.

The facility is connected to the indoor practice facility, a 102,000 square foot facility that features a full-length football field and drop-down batting cages.

Finally, the outdoor practice facility includes two fields. The $1.8 million area was completed in August 2002 and includes the latest in outdoor sports lighting compliments of Musco Lighting.

University of Maryland

Maryland athletic director Damon Evans announced at the beginning of 2020 a complete facilities upgrade, including for the football program. I’ll go ahead and display what they have coming soon in terms of facilities, though this project is not yet complete.

Being constructed now is a facility named Gossett Hall. The Gossett Football Team House has served as the home for the football team since 1991, but winter 2020 began its renovation into the future Gossett Hall. The renovated facility will include larger separate locker and team rooms, increased sports medicine space, a shared weight room among numerous athletic teams, and private office space for coaches and training staff. The cost of the project has yet to be announced, but the website is currently taking donations (donations over $5K will earn you a plaque inside the facility).

University of Michigan

2019 saw a renovation for Jim Harbaugh’s stomping ground, deemed the FPC (Football Performance Center). 34,000 square feet, $1.2M worth of equipment, 48 strength racks, 250 dumbbells, and state-of-the-art recovery technology was added to the FPC. The FPC is home to the largest weight room for a single sport in the country and a one-of-a-kind mud room, named the “car wash.” The car wash is a tunnel connected to the practice facility that has a 100-foot recovery pool and space for players to hang up their cleats and immediately begin the recovery process after practice.

Locker rooms appear to still be older style, unlike most programs in the Big Ten.

Michigan State University

In August of 2008, the Spartans moved into the Duffy Daughtery Building and Skandalaris Football Center. The football center was a 2008 expansion of the Duffy Daughtery building that added 25,000 square feet, cost $15.5M, and took 14 months to complete. Additional facelifts have occurred since this date, but this remains this remains the primary facility for the football team.

The facility features a nutrition center, an equipment room with a shrine for alumni NFL player’s equipment, a workout facility, and an indoor field. The facility places a heavy emphasis on the tradition and history of the Spartan football program. It certainly has some areas that look less modern than other facilities in the Big Ten.

University of Minnesota

The new home for the University of Minnesota’s football facilities is the David & Janis Larson Performance Center, opened in January of 2018. The facility includes all the latest upgrades including a renovated locker room, new players lounge, updated football-specific workout facilities, indoor practice facility, meeting rooms, NFL alumni shrine, and recovery facilities. The 96,000 square foot facility is part of an “Athlete’s Village” that the Gophers have constructed for all student-athletes on campus. It appears cost figures were not released on this facility.

University of Nebraska

The Cornhuskers are another school that plan on heavily investing in improved facilities in the near future. A $155M and 360,000 square foot facility has been approved with a move in date of May or June 2022. The facility will house the football workout facility and practice fields, but its nutrition and recovery centers will serve all Nebraska student athletes. Though details are not yet finalized, the workout room will be the highlight of the facility. The Huskers of course wanted the bells and whistles that you often see in these types of renovations, but they mostly wanted to be efficient to an athlete’s needs. Said former offensive lineman Brenden Stai, the weight room “is going to be the best in the nation and probably world-renowned.” Chancellor Ronnie Green has noticed the improvement in facilities around the conference but is sure that “this one’s going to be better than all of them.”

Northwestern University

One of the schools that might have something to say about the Nebraska Chancellor’s remarks is the Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern unveiled the $270M Ryan Fieldhouse and Walter Athletics Center in the summer of 2018. The 96,000 square foot facility is on the shore of Lake Michigan and has to have one of the best views in college football. It is shared between multiple athletic teams on the Wildcats campus, but it is designed for football. It’s rounded ceiling 87-foot ceiling is designed specifically for punters to be able to punt how they normally would without fear of hitting the ceiling. The Walter Athletics center homes the workout facility, which also has a great view of Lake Michigan.

Ohio State University

The Woody Hayes Athletic Center was dedicated in 1987 but received a $19.5M facelift nearly 20 years later. The highlights of the facility include a 13,000 square foot workout facility and an additional second-story 1800 square feet designated for cardio fitness. 2014 saw an additional $2.2M renovation to the team’s locker room, modernizing it and giving it more of a player’s lounge feel. Additional facility features include a $7.8M room designated for recruits on visits to highlight OSU’s football successes and a museum displaying trophies and memorabilia.

Penn State University

For being one of the top programs in the Big Ten, Penn State is admittedly a bit behind in terms of facilities. That soon should change. In June of this year Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour announced a renovation to the Nittany Lions’ Holuba Hall, their indoor practice facility, and the Louis and Mildred Lasch Football Building, their performance center and outdoor practice fields. Barbour declared that, “We need to be top three in the Big Ten and top ten nationally as kind of a benchmark.” 2016 saw a new locker room for the Nittany Lions and this renovation should bring the remainder of the facilities up to par for the caliber of program they are.

Purdue University

In August of 2017, Purdue unveiled the 3-story Kozuch Football Performance Complex, a 112,000 square foot facility that includes a locker room, team meeting room, position group meeting rooms, player development room, weight room, sports medicine area, nutrition station, coaches office, and a grand lobby displaying Purdue football history. The $65M facility houses all of football, when it used to be spread out among multiple different buildings. Construction took 16 months and when complete was dedicated with 11 Purdue Super Bowl champions in attendance.

Rutgers University

Rutgers has also recently splurged on improved football facilities. The Hale Center is home to the Rutgers football program and has many modern features. The locker room features a double-sided waterfall behind a Rutgers logo and the new and improved weight room has a nutrition center attached to it for pre and post workout nutrition. The facility also includes a recruiting pavilion and a player’s lounge, deemed the “Audi Club.” The most outdated facility may actually be the one that stands out the most – the RCA Dome-like indoor practice field deemed the “indoor practice bubble” provides the Scarlet Knights with a climate-controlled practice area.

University of Wisconsin

The Badgers’ main football facility is the McClain Center, a building not far from Camp Randall Stadium. It opened in 1988 at a cost of $9.5M but went under renovation in 2013 as a part of Wisconsin’s entire athletic campus renos costing $86M. The centerpiece is a 76,000 square foot main floor with a 90-yard practice field and a translucent roof. Also on the modernized lower level is a football team suite, consisting of both player and coach designated space. The player space boasts large wooden lockers, recovery pools, TVs, video game systems, a pool table, a ping-pong table, and a dart board.

The Huddle

The Facilities Arms Race: Big Ten Edition

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