OU Board of Regents approve $175 million football operations 'facility of tomorrow'
NORMAN — OU athletics director Joe Castiglione said the plan to move forward with a new football operations facility is about much more than just competing in the SEC arms race.
“Sometimes you all frame it as, ‘Keeping up with the Joneses,’” Castiglione said following the OU Board of Regents meeting Tuesday at the Stephenson Research and Technology Center.
“I don’t think it’s that as much as it is the quest to recruit the best and the brightest is as competitive as it’s ever been, and it’s an entirely new landscape. … So you have to provide a comprehensive approach that makes Oklahoma the most attractive destination for the best and the brightest, and do what we do best. Facilities are definitely part of that.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, the OU Board of Regents approved the next step in the facility, approving the selection of a construction manager for the project.
The facility, which will be located separately from Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, is expected to cost $175 million.
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The location for the facility — which is expected to include areas for strength and conditioning, recovery, sports medicine, nutrition, team dining, meeting spaces, offices, locker rooms and adjacent practice fields — is still being explored, though the facility is likely to be located east of the stadium in the same area where the current track facility is located.
Castiglione said he program is being mindful of the changing landscape of college athletics — which includes the role of name, image and likeness benefits.
“That exactly what we’re doing — trying to make sure that we balance how we may interpret the changing landscape going forward,” Castiglione said. “There’s no blueprint. We understand that. This is evolving before our eyes. We’re using the best thinking of the best minds out there.”
Funds for the project will come from athletics funds and private donations.
The project will address the use of the current team facilities on the south end of the stadium as well. The Switzer Center was dedicated in May 2018.
The selection of architectural firm HOK to handle the project was approved by the board in November.
Tuesday's meeting was the first since the announcement the Sooners would move to the SEC in the summer of 2024, a year earlier than was originally planned.
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“It’s a great moment to know with certainty what those dates are,” OU President Joe Harroz said.
Harroz said the regents would need to approve the details of the early exit in a special meeting later this spring.
Part of the need for the new facility comes from the rapid expansion of support staff since Brent Venables was hired in December 2021.
“That’s all part of it,” Castiglione said. “But it’s primarily driven by how we generate the resources that student-athletes need and want and are part of what we offer.”
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, new wide receivers coach Emmett Jones’ two-year contract for $550,000 was approved.
Contracts for assistants Bill Bedenbaugh, Miguel Chaves, Brandon Hall, Jay Valai, Joe Jon Finley and DeMarco Murray were extended through the 2024 season while Todd Bates’ and Jeff Lebby’s contracts were extended through the 2025 season.
All of those contracts were one-year extensions.
Murray received a $100,000 raise while Hall received a $50,000 raise.
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“We have a great coaching staff,” Castiglione said. “We want to make sure that the contract terms are aligned with what we intended.
“We’re very mindful. We do as much as we can proactively to not only show confidence but also the fact that we are keeping our eye on most of the things that are building our program and our coaches have done a heck of a job with recruiting.”
Castiglione also said the SEC is moving toward a decision on a football scheduling model when OU and Texas make the move in time for the 2024 football season.
He said the league is exploring both an eight-game conference model and a nine-game one. While an eight-game model would feature just one permanent matchup, a nine-game model would give each team three permanent matchups.
In either scenario, OU-Texas would be an annual matchup. Missouri is expected to be another of the Sooners’ permanent foes if a nine-game model is approved, with the other being either Florida or Arkansas, though Castiglione wouldn’t confirm those reports.
“I know there’s been some that are speculated but be careful don’t get too caught up in anything right now,” Castiglione said. “It’s still a process.”
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OU athletic facility upgrades and additions
The regents also improved a $75 million “student-athlete success center,” $45 million for expansion and improvements to the L. Dale Mitchell Park baseball facility, $13.75 million for expansion and improvements for the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center as well as improvements to the indoor tennis facility, golf learning center and Lloyd Noble Center.
The basketball renovations, expected to cost $9.5 million, will focus on team areas.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Regents approve Sooners' $175 million operations facility
