Bearcats Break Ground on Indoor Practice Facility

by B. Clifton Burke

On a warm, windy December morning, University of Cincinnati football coach Brian Kelly, along with athletic director Mike Thomas and about a dozen players, donned hard hats and carried shovels to commemorate the ground breaking of the team’s new indoor practice facility.

Private donors raised all of the $10 million necessary to build the facility which is expected to be completed by next season. The facility will be built on campus near the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Corry Street.

“It’s a necessary tool for not only the football program but for the university,” Kelly said.

Kelly called the facility a recruiting tool and Mike Thomas said that it puts the program on a higher tier.

“I think it s the next step for us,” said Kelly “When you go to a BCS conference you would hope to have all the things in place from an infrastructure standpoint. We didn’t, but we’re moving in that direction.”

Other UC teams will also have access to the facility, including the women’s lacrosse team.

“We’re gonna be smart and understand that this is not just about football. We want to be able to help our other sports,” Kelly said. “This is gonna give us a great functionality for all of our sports and particularly women’s lacrosse.”

Junior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard climbed inside of a bulldozer parked in front of a pole barn that currently resides at the site.

“Don’t turn it on.” Kelly joked.

The other players lined the bulldozer and struck the soil with shovels and pick axes, while Kelly and Thomas posed shaking hands for the media event.

Thomas and other school officials signed Kelly to a new five-year agreement with the University earlier in the week. The agreement includes the school building the indoor practice facility and practice fields in the next two years.

Renovation efforts to Nippert Stadium are also being planned. Nippert was built in1902 and is the fifth oldest stadium in college football. Kelly compared Nippert to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park.

“We want to enhance the experience at Nippert Staduim. Larger concourses, better concession stands, better bathroom facilities, maybe some luxury boxes and club seating,” said Kelly.

The Bearcats are one of two Division I programs in the nation that currently practice and play on the same field. Kelly said the new indoor facility will be a modest practice venue.

“I think its important that we send a message here. We’re going to put a bubble over this. This isn’t gonna be the Taj Mahal,” Kelly said. “I think there has to be a little bit of humility in athletics as well. This is an academic institution first and foremost.”.