The happiest person in college football today has to be Mark Richt. After years of stumping for an indoor facility at Georgia -- and making the trek to the Falcons' facility when one was needed -- the Bulldogs finally gave their own indoor a green light. Then they asked him to leave.
Richt immediately landed at Miami, where, again, there was no indoor, despite the fact that Miami, arguably, needed one as bad as anybody in college football. He was Charlie Brown, and indoor facility was a football, and the football gods were Lucy.
Hear it from the man himself, in a letter he penned to Canes boosters in hopes of buttressing the $1 million he pledged to get Miami's indoor off the ground:
Right now, our football program is facing a glaring need. We are the only university in the ACC without an Indoor Practice Facility or one under construction, and it is affecting our practice time, preparation, and recruiting success.
Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. On average, we lose or must reschedule 22 practice sessions every year due to weather-related issues. When we lose practice time, we enter the season at a marked competitive disadvantage against teams that have had uninterrupted and significantly more preparation time than we have. If we want to win, we simply cannot afford to continue without an Indoor Practice Facility.
Recruiting efforts are also hampered by our limited facilities. Potential recruits compare Miami to other area programs—from Alabama to Florida to FSU. And without an Indoor Practice Facility, we cannot promise the same student-athlete experience.
Thankfully, finally, that's about to change.
Miami officially announced Friday plans to build a two-story, 100,000-square foot indoor facility. The first floor will house an 80-yard field and a 40-yard field connected to the strength and conditioning center and the locker room -- which, by the way, is named after The Rock.
The second floor will house new offices for Richt and his staff, meeting rooms, a recruiting center and space for the video and operations staffs.
Take a look below, courtesy of Miami athletics.
