Gamecocks already seeing 'wow factor' in new ops building

The first weight hasn’t been picked up or the team hasn’t had one meeting in the Gamecocks’ new football operations building, but it’s already making an impact on recruiting.

Muschamp addressed the new Ken and Cyndi Long Football Operations Building before a tour Wednesday, saying despite the facility not being move-in ready until December potential Gamecocks are already blown away by it.

It’s a ‘wow.’ It’s a wow factor,” Muschamp said. “They walk in and say it’s big time and it rivals the things they have seen other places. That’s where you want them to feel comfortable. And the people that help them make that decision got the wow factor as well.”

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The Gamecocks have been able to sell recruits on the team’s new ops building since Muschamp took over as head coach with ground breaking soon after he started.

The goal, outside of recruiting, was to take fractured football facilities scattered up and down Bluff Road and put them all under one roof.

In the new facilities, players will be able to get treatment, get ready and eat before going next door to practice instead of having to do all of those things at Williams-Brice before walking across Gamecock Park to the practice fields.

The ops building has training rooms, a full locker and weight room, and players can see the practice field from their lockers—and it contains some fun bells and whistles like a barber shop, recording studio, arcade and movie theatre.

Muschamp said condensing facilities could only help build the team’s culture.

“I think it speaks volumes because time is of essence,” athletic director Ray Tanner said. “This is a one-stop shop for football…There’s great flow and great communication. I think it brings a lot of positives aspects to our program.”

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The ops building will be ready for coaches and players to move into once this season’s over in either December or January, which will leave a pretty big gap at Williams-Brice that needs to be filled after offices get vacated.

While the training room will stay and the current weight room will serve as a staging area for recruits on game day, the coaches offices and meeting areas in the north end zone.

Now it’s up to Tanner and the athletic department to redo some of that, and they already have plans for it.

“We’ll take some space there and retro-fit it for premium space. We’ll try to vacate the space in Williams-Brice to accommodate our fan base and improve the fan experience opportunities,” he said. “We will take that space and retro-fit it.”

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The ops building is the latest piece in the Gamecocks’ facilities expansion after opening the new Jerri and Steve Spurrier Indoor Facility recently and building a new soccer weight room.

But, even with the ops building set to open soon, Muschamp said he’s not done building yet.

“In order to win championships you have to spend money,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing, that’s what Coach Tanner’s doing…You’re always building. There’s no last piece…Coach Tanner’s going to make those decisions. I’ll give him suggestions.”