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FSU now moving quickly on football operations center; announcement expected soon
It has been a lengthy journey, but Florida State officials are expected to soon announce plans to move forward with a new football operations center.
According to sources, the project will come with a price tag of between $60 million and $65 million, which is more than Clemson spent on its standalone facility two years ago ($55 million) and on par with the one recently announced by the University of Florida.
FSU first started discussing the need for a new football operations facility more than 18 months ago, and it first came to light publicly when university president John Thrasher mentioned it in an interview with Warchant.com.
Since then, the project has moved forward slowly, but it has been picking up steam in recent weeks and could be formally announced before the start of the 2018 football season.
As recently as mid-May, it appeared the school might be at a bit of an impasse. The first formal proposals drawn up by global architecture firm Populous were far more expansive and projected to cost over $100 million. At the time, Thrasher told Warchant the original versions were a little too exorbitant and the school would likely look for a, "slightly-less-gold-standard" approach.
Since then, officials from FSU’s athletics department, the football staff and Seminole Boosters have worked with the school’s administration to determine the biggest priorities for the facility and lop off any unnecessary elements. That process has helped the Seminoles reduce the overall price by about $40 million.
One source who is familiar with the project told Warchant that two possible versions still exist – one that would call for a new standalone facility adjacent to the Indoor Practice Facility and another that would mean renovating and expanding the existing Moore Athletics Center. But another source said all parties are on board with the decision to build the standalone facility. Based on everything we have been able to gather, that is the course the school will take.
The new football facility will be attached to west side of the indoor practice facility (see below). The final drawings have yet to be completed, but the new complex is expected to include a locker room and a comprehensive weight room overlooking the practice field.
In addition to building a brand-new facility for football, significant renovations are also planned for the Moore Center. Many of the rooms dedicated to football will be converted for use by Olympic sports. Also, the main academic center for all sports will be housed there.
Finally, additional renovations will be made to the Figg Performance Table (player dining hall) and the athletic training room.
At this point, there is no specific timeline for breaking ground or the completion of the football-only complex. But school officials are expected to make a formal announcement, along with presenting a timeline for the fundraising campaign, before the start of the 2018 season.
Several lead gifts in that fundraising effort have already been identified, from what we've been told.
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The future of neutral-site games
Of the many ways Alabama coach Nick Saban has influenced college football, one of the most public -- and profitable -- has been his role as an early adopter of high-priced neutral-site football games.
Long before the Crimson Tide took on Florida State in the 2017 season opener for both schools, Saban already had them playing in a series of similar showdowns. But just last week, Saban made a somewhat surprising announcement at SEC Media Days – he said Alabama is looking to begin backing away from those games in the future.
“Neutral-site games really launched our program in Alabama when we first came there years ago,” Saban said. “But I think philosophically we're sort of changing our thoughts on that and our future scheduling and trying to get more home-and-homes.”
That change won’t happen immediately, of course. Alabama, which has opened up seven consecutive seasons with neutral-site games, has similar games lined up for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
And from talking to sources at Florida State, it doesn’t sound like the Seminoles will be following suit any time soon.
While FSU hasn’t been quite as aggressive about scheduling neutral-site games as Alabama, it has become a key revenue generator for the ‘Noles. Warchant recently learned that FSU cleared a net profit of more than $4 million from last year’s opener with Alabama, which is far more than the Seminoles clear from any home game.
Florida State already has neutral-site games scheduled for 2019 (Boise State in Jacksonville) and 2020 (West Virginia in Atlanta), and the Seminoles have been negotiating with LSU on a potential season-opening game in Orlando, according to a source. With FSU playing Notre Dame on Labor Day in 2021, the earliest that game with LSU could be scheduled is 2022.
FSU also is looking to schedule home-and-home games with non-conference opponents as well. But regardless of how that goes, the Seminoles have no intention of backing away from neutral-site games for the foreseeable future.
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Commit watch at SNL
A huge recruiting event is scheduled to take place this Saturday inside of Doak Campbell Stadium. It’s being called “Saturday Night Live” and will feature dozens of the nation's top prospects. The camp is open to the public and is scheduled to run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
So far, nearly 50 top recruits are slated to be in Tallahassee for SNL, including 13 Rivals100 members and six recruits rated as 5-star prospects. Here is the most updated list of recruits expected to be in attendance this Saturday.
Last year at Oregon, Taggart secured four commitments at the Saturday Night Live camp, and the results could be similar for Florida State. Warchant’s Michael Langston has the following recruits on “Commit Watch” this weekend.
DB Brendan Gant - Taggart has liked Gant for awhile, and there seems to be a connection with FSU that he doesn't have with any other school. The Rivals100 safety has said that he will only decide when he's comfortable. Could that happen this weekend?
LB Kalen DeLoach – Florida State made a major move after his second visit to the campus in June. We feel DeLoach could very well pull the trigger this weekend with his multiple-day visit. The ‘Noles need linebackers, and Deloach is close with LBs coach Raymond Woodie.
OL Charles Cross – Cross didn't commit after receiving an offer at the June camp, which led most to believe he would stay in-state with either Ole Miss or Mississippi State. However, a return trip to FSU this weekend is interesting, and he knows the Seminoles are in need of offensive tackles. Also, we’ve been told Cross felt very comfortable with offensive line coach Greg Frey before and after the June camp.
Another defensive back to watch is Rivals100 standout Nick Cross. We haven't confirmed he's visiting yet for this weekend’s SNL, but we hear FSU is in a good spot. A decision is expected to come before the season starts.
WR/DB Isaiah Dunson (2020) -- Dunson is a teammate of FSU commit Derrick McLendon. We have heard that Dunson is also very high on the ‘Noles and is close to jumping on board. A good visit this weekend could push him over the edge.
Bryce Langston (2021) is another to keep an eye on. He's said a few times that FSU is his dream school. He has high interest in the ‘Noles and already holds an offer. He's probably the least likely to commit, but with such high interest in FSU and with this type of recruiting event, you never know.
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Quick-hitters from ACC Kickoff:
* Cam Akers and Brian Burns were both asked who they would want on their side if they got into a fight. Burns picked DL Marvin Wilson and DB Hamsah Nasirildeen. Akers picked QB James Blackman.
* When head coach Willie Taggart was asked to name some lesser-known players who will step up this fall, it was interesting to hear the first name he mentioned was WR Tamorrion Terry. Taggart had a lot of positive things to say about Terry in the spring. The fact that he's continuing with that message just before preseason camp begins is another sign that Terry will be a huge part of the Seminoles' offense. Others he mentioned first were RB Khalan Laborn, TE Tre' McKitty and LB Dontavious Jackson.
* Akers seemed very amused every time someone mentioned the possibility of him playing some quarterback this fall. He didn't offer any details, but he smiled or laughed each time it came up.
* DE Brian Burns was asked if the 'Noles would implement something fun on the sideline after turnovers this season -- like Miami's "Turnover Chain" or Georgia's spiked shoulder pads. Burns didn't hesitate one second before saying, "It's confidential."
* During his interview with Wake Up Warchant, Taggart confirmed that a plan is already in place for which uniform combinations the Seminoles will be wearing in every game this season. He didn't offer any details, but this is believed to be the first time that FSU has mapped out different uniform combinations for a season this far in advance.
NOTE: WAR ROOM compiled by Gene Williams, Ira Schoffel and Michael Langston
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