Fresh off NCAA national title, Clemson opens plush football operations complex

Two-lane bowling alley, wiffle ball field, nine-hole mini-golf course, 24-seat HD movie theater, indoor slide, VR studio. Clemson University has certainly upped the ante when it comes to elite Division I football recruiting with its newly christened $55 million Football Operations Complex. The 142,500-sf facility, which opened just three weeks after Clemson’s national championship win over the University of Alabama, adjoins the indoor practice facility and outdoor practice fields, consolidating football operations into one complex. It is the largest football-specific facility in the U.S.

Designed by HOK (sports design architect) and GMC (architect of record), the facility serves as a home away from home for players and staff, with amenities that allow the student-athletes to train, study, and unwind in the same place. Performance spaces include hydrotherapy rooms (both polar and thermal plunge pools), a lap pool, steam room, weight and fitness training centers, a 175-seat auditorium, NFL scout room, and technology for weight tracking and body composition. 

Additional leisure and entertainment amenities: outdoor basketball court, barbershop, volleyball and bocce courts, Gatorade fuel bar, and a Nike gear and championship display. It even has spaces dedicated for family visits, like an outdoor kitchen and grilling area, outdoor lounges with gas fire pits, a secluded bonfire pit with rocking chairs, a 20x20-foot inflatable screen for outdoor movies, an integrated family lounge in the player’s locker room, and a covered patio for 75 people. 

DPR Construction was the GC on the project.

Courtesy HOK.

Courtesy HOK.