To think, the University South of Florida’s first football building in 1997 was a cramped trailer on the east side of the Tampa campus.
Three decades later, the Bulls will be preparing for games in what Coach Alex Golesh calls the “nicest football complex in the entire country.”
Hyperbole? USF’s athletic department backed the coach up this week with receipts — more accurately, artist renderings of the Tampa General Hospital Center for Athletic Excellence.
The facility will be the home of USF’s football operations and a central component of the $407 million on-campus stadium project, scheduled for completion in fall 2027.
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The 150,000-square-foot building will be connected to the stadium and adjacent to the indoor practice facility and outdoor fields — not far from where the first-year Bulls set up shop in the double-wide.
The facility is expected to be a key amenity for keeping the players at peak athletic health to remain competitive. It should also dazzle potential high school and transfer recruits looking for more reasons to play for the Bulls.
“We're going to have a building that is the new standard, a complete first-class environment,” Golesh said.
It is also another product of the ongoing commitment the university is making to athletics. Before finalizing specifics, Jay Stroman, CEO of the USF Foundation, arranged for Golesh and other members of the department to visit other recently built football facilities.
“They allowed us to take the time to do it right and go see places around the country that are the standard,” Golesh said. “Jay gave us the ability to get on a plane and go see the last six buildings that got built. So, we arrived at all the things that made sense. They spared no expense.”
“We took the best out of everything we saw and put together the plans for a building that will be absolutely awesome.“
The latest renderings highlight several key spaces, including a state-of-the-art weight room, team meeting room and training table dining area, according to a news release.
The weight room will include custom-built racks, a sports science lab equipped with advanced performance technology, a nutrition station, strength coaches’ offices, and a DEXA scan machine to measure bone density, fat and muscle composition.
The meeting room will feature tiered, theater-style seating, dual projection screens, and space to accommodate the entire team and staff.
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The training table will resemble a sports bar-style dining venue, offering a variety of meal options alongside chef and nutrition staff offices. It will also include a teaching kitchen, where players can learn to prepare nutritious meals.
The center will also include coaches’ offices, a players’ lounge, sports medicine and recovery facilities, and position meeting rooms. Also in the plans are a barbershop, recording and mixing studio, nutrition bar and golf simulator.
A two-story lobby, opening onto Sycamore Drive, will serve as the main entrance to the football facility and the stadium’s south tower premium seating.
In September 2023, Tampa General Hospital donated $25 million to the stadium project and to receive the training facility naming rights. It was the largest gift ever made to USF Athletics. USF and TGH are long-time academic medical partners.
