Clemson Opens Palatial Football Operations Center

1. On a rather uneventful National Signing Day, Clemson opened their brand new massive Football Operations Center.

Clemson’s National Signing Day came with little drama or surprises. The fourteen players that had committed prior NSD all stuck with their commitments. Clemson saw no last minute flips or wasn’t seriously recruiting any players that were waiting until today to announce whom they’d be playing for. While small in numbers, the quality of this recruiting class was high and competed with Alabama and Ohio State in terms of the averaging rankings for Clemson’s class. Unlike Alabama, Swinney does not over-recruit and pursue players for spots which he may not have as Alabama did in the case of Jarez Parks. Parks spot on the Tide squad was dependent on La’Bryan Ray’s choice. Swinney has been open about not over-recruiting, something that has plagued the Tide in years previous. Without much drama or fanfare, Clemson closed in on a solid recruiting class buoyed by multiple five and four-star players.

The larger story for Clemson was not players signing. It was the opening of their brand new Football Operations Center. Constructed in the span of 15 months, the $55 million Allen N. Reeves Football Complex officially opened this morning. Matching similar facilities at Alabama, LSU, Oregon, and Tennessee, Clemson’s newest addition to the football program overshadowed their signing day. The facility features a slide, a scale replica of Memorial Stadium’s famous Hill and Howard’s Rock, an outdoor basketball shelter, a two-lane bowling alley, a barber shop (for which players can pay for haircuts and shoe shines), mini-golf, brand new locker rooms, a sleeping area for players so they don’t have to go back to their apartments or dorms for a quick nap, state of the art training facilities, cold pools for injury recovery, and a world-class weight lifting facility. This new building caps off years of efforts towards improving the standing of Clemson football to being one of the elite programs in the country. Under both previous AD Terry Don Phillips and current AD Dan Radakovich, this is the culmination of years of investment into the football program that has paid dividends for the school in many ways with its recent success. Paid for entirely without student fees or taxpayer dollars, the new Ops Building proves that Clemson is up there with the big boys.

This past weekend Swinney hosted multiple 2018 recruits for a behind the scenes look at the new building before its grand opening. The recruits were all wowed by the facility, with multiple ones tweeting about the experience. Mike Jones Jr., of IMG Academy in Brandenton, FL (originally from Lebanon, TN), tweeted a photo of him and sought-after Florence, SC native Xavier Thomas (left) in Clemson Uniforms at the facility:

Another recruit that was being highly pursued by both South Carolina and Clemson was Josh Belk of Richburg, SC. Belk committed verbally to Clemson after his visit, and one can infer that the new building played a role in his decision. South Carolina is a little late to the party when it comes to this, as the school’s board of trustees gave the final approval for the construction of a similar facility in Columbia this past December. Slated to open in 2018, they lag behind Clemson and their SEC rivals, something that will no doubt play a role in how recruits may choose between South Carolina and their counterparts. Facilities have played an increasing role in football recruiting as of late, and the top programs in the country have all added massive upgrades such as operations centers and indoor practice facilities. Clemson’s indoor practice facility was the first major facilities upgrade for football since the opening of the West Zone addition to Memorial Stadium in 2006. Signaling a beginning of significant investment by the school into football, the indoor practice facility was just the tip of the iceberg. Additions to the stadium such as the Oculus and renovating the suites and luxury boxes followed, as well as new video ribbon boards across Death Valley. The Reeves Center was the last of football-specific construction, but a major renovation to Littlejohn Coliseum also took place in the same time frame. Basketball facilities play an even greater role in recruiting, and major upgrades for practice and to Littlejohn were long overdue. Now the newly renovated Littlejohn Coliseum has looked great this basketball season and has already hosted its first commencement ceremony since the construction began in 2015. All of this is a signal from the athletic department and university higher-ups that they value having the latest state of the art facilities to keep up with our rivals both within the ACC and outside the conference.

Clemson’s efforts specifically towards football have paid off exponentially. Starting first with the West Zone project in 2006, and following with the aforementioned projects, Clemson has been in the midst of a long-term transition to major investment in athletics. The university had balked at previous opportunities to do so, and programs suffered as a result. Once Swinney took over the helm as permanent head coach in 2008, even more improvements came. Swinney’s salary and bonus structure reflects this, given the incentives he has for raises that come as a result of certain successes- winning 10 games, winning the Atlantic Division, winning the ACC Championship, making a BCS/New Years’ Six bowl, and making the College Football Playoff and/or National Championship. Swinney has made a point since his first division title in 2009 and first conference title in 2011 to share some of his windfall with his assistants, the likes of which have played a large role in Clemson’s football success. Starting with Chad Morris and later following with Brent Venables and then the tandem of Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott, Clemson has also made sure that assistants are well compensated as well as given the accommodations they need. Brent Venables mentioned in a Charleston Post and Courier article that Clemson letting him put his family life first is a major reason why he’s stayed at Clemson for so long. Swinney does the same- he’s frequently seen at DW Daniel High games watching his sons, one of which has now committed to Clemson as a preferred walk-on: his oldest Will. These investments into football have raked in the results that were long expected. Clemson won its first ACC Championship since 1991 in 2011, won 11 games for the first time since 1981 in the 2012 season with the victory over LSU in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, won their first BCS Bowl game over Urban Meyer’s Ohio State in the 2014 Orange Bowl, had the top-ranked defense in college football in 2014, and then finally made the College Football Playoff and National Championship game in 2015 after an undefeated regular season. This past season was the final culmination of years of effort and it paid off with Clemson’s return to the Playoff and revenge victory over Alabama in the Championship. Now Clemson can proudly show off these achievements in the new facility- where visitors will be able to see the entrance and main atrium where trophies such as the CFP Championship and others will be kept. As Coach Swinney has said time and time again, “The best is yet to come.” This motto will hold true at Clemson for a very long time.