Indoor Football Facility 1st Step To Getting A Stadium At USF

TAMPA, FL — For now, the University of South Florida Bulls are content to share Raymond James Stadium with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But if the chairman of USF's Board of Trustees, Will Weatherford, has his way, fans will eventually cheer on the Bulls in their own stadium.

"Bulls Nation deserves to have a stadium on campus," said the former Speaker of the Florida House. "There's a renowned author named Victor Hugo who once said, 'There's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.' Our time has come."

As a first step toward building that field of dreams, interim USF President Rhea Law and USF head football coach Jeff Scott, along with alumni, boosters and players, broke ground on a $22 million indoor performance facility, expected to be completed by next summer.

The groundbreaking comes as the Bulls prepare for their 25th season.

During a news conference, Michael Kelly, vice president for athletics at USF, said the 88,000-square-foot facility will contain a full-size indoor, climate-controlled football field to be used for all USF sports teams for practice and performance training.

The facility will include a lobby and observation deck.

At the same time, USF will make $3 million in renovations to the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center, built in 2004. Kelly said the renovations will include enhancements to the team meeting room, a new locker room, a lounge and nutrition area.

In the meantime, Kelly said USF will continue raising funds for a stadium, noting that the university already has $25 million in pledges for the indoor facility.

"We have had some plans that were temporarily derailed by the pandemic, but our supporters are rallying behind the vision," he said. "The best days are yet to come for USF football and USF athletics in general.''

Weatherford said the university, which was founded in 1956, has waited long enough, noting that a stadium was on the original plans for the campus.

"These student-athletes, our 50,000 students, the alumni, faculty and administration — they all deserve a stadium on this campus," he said. "I'm here to tell you we're going to do it. It's going to take a lot of work. It may take a little time. But If I know anything about USF and the Bulls spirit, it's that we're never shy about having bold ambitions and going after them.''

Weatherford said more specific details are in the works.

"Stay tuned. It's coming," he said. "The athletic program is ready for this challenge. It's extremely feasible. I have 100 percent confidence it's going to happen.''

Scott said it will be a triumph not only for the Bulls but for the entire university, uniting students in the way only football can.

There's "not another structure you could build on this campus that will have the transformational effect that an on-campus stadium will have," he said.

In the meantime, on Saturday night the Bulls posted their first win of the season, defeating Florida A&M 38-17.