Graham elated with once-in-a-lifetime opportunity SAF facility presents
As Todd Graham stood up for his introductory press conference as Arizona State’s head football coach in December 2011, he talked about his new home in Tempe as his “dream” job.
Now, he and his staff have a move-in date for their new dream home.
Graham led a media tour of a brand-new, 118,669-square-foot Student-Athlete Facility (SAF) Wednesday, displaying the new home for Sun Devil football once he and his staff move in mid-July. The players will join them in the new facility after they return from Camp Tontozona in August.
As he took the different media members throughout the active construction site, he couldn’t help but crack a smile and repeat something that would become a trend for him during the afternoon.
“This is just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Graham said. “How many times do you get to do something like this?”
The facility, which is taking part in Phase II of the Sun Devil Stadium reconstruction, is completely privately-funded by booster donations. Graham, along with Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson, combined to donate $1 million to the project.
It’s a complete revamp for the program, Graham said.
“Every part of our program is going to be impacted,” he said. “It’s a game-changer for us in how we operate and obviously how we take care of our players, how we educate and teach our players.”
Now three years into a partnership with the Hunt-Sundt construction team, Graham has been encouraged with the progress.
“I’ve never been at a place before where I’ve been able to have input on every single area (of the construction) so it actually operates the way you want it to operate,” Graham said. “That’s going to be really special.”
Graham’s energy has been contagious, Sun Devil Stadium Project representative Isaac Manning said.
“Coach Graham is awesome, and the thing that I love about coach Graham is he is fired up every day,” Manning said. “It’s amazing to watch his brain as we’ve gone through this. It’s like a 3-year-old in a candy store because he is so fired up about every element. They’ve gone through this over and over again to make this right.”
The new facility’s crown jewel will be a brand-new Tillman Tunnel, with the team moving from the south end zone to the north end. Much like in years past, the players will filter through a tunnel of Sun Devil alumni. However, instead of going through a gate featuring the ASU legend’s likeness, they will walk past a statue of Tillman that should be ready in 2017.
Before they go through the new Tillman Tunnel, there is, of course, the brand-new ASU football locker room. The new 5,750-foot room will provide a variety of amenities to Graham and his players, including a video wall, illuminated lockers, a barber shop and a nutrition bar.
“This is the player’s sanctuary, Graham said. “It’s a sacred place. It’ll be an incredible gameday atmosphere.”
Behind the players will be a plunge pool that can hold up to 30 players and have a waterfall feature.
A new player’s lounge behind the locker room will provide an escape from football, with TVs, video games, a pool table and ping pong available.
In addition to the plunge pool, players will have access to hot tubs through a rehabilitation center just off from the locker room. The new facility will have examination rooms on-site, and players will have access to medical personnel at all times at the 5,387-foot center.
The facilities’ entrance outside the north side off of Rio Salado Parkway will display a hall of fame center, including a third-floor display dedicated to former Sun Devils who have since gone on to the NFL.
“Honoring the past is very important to us,” Graham said. “That’s what’s going to activate the future.”
The main entrance to the SAF, which was donated by Betsy and Kent Bro, will also have an immediate view of the new ASU football weight room.
The weight training facility will take up 9,813 square feet, and in addition, will have an upper cardio deck that overlooks the entire lobby.
The technological advances of the new facility are massive, particularly compared to what the program has had to work with in the past. Video and projection-style devices are available in each of the team meetings, allowing players to work on “step-throughs” by going up against film projections that are capable of being life size.
“We’ve got to maximize our time because we have that 20-hour rule we have to adhere to,” Graham said. “Technology is a huge piece of that. There won’t be a more innovative teaching facility that I know of anywhere.”
Everything is centralized, from a central meeting center that requires key-card access and has a hub where each of the Sun Devil coaches can all come together and discuss reporting. In addition to a recruiting hub, there is a brand-new academic center that will have computer labs and learning resources available to players for at all times.
Atop the new facility will be a pair of the key selling points of the new image of Sun Devil Stadium. The brand new video board – which will be exactly one square foot larger than the one at the University of Arizona – will be fully functional come August. The steel erection for the board will begin on March 15.
Then, there’s the “closing room,” the place where Graham wraps up each recruiting visit with a player. The room provides a view of the field, as well as the ASU campus and city of Tempe.
Even more has yet to come in the construction. A new practice field is still a possibility depending on Tempe district plans. Phase III, which includes brand-new seating on the east side of the stadium, will take place next offseason.
