Football Enjoying Phase 1 of the Indoor Practice Facility.
By: By Lamar Chance
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Note: This feature of Phase 1 of Memphis Football's IPF first appeared in the Aug. 31 Memphis Football GameDay program when the Tigers hosted Ole Miss.
Guess the University of Memphis football program has been on Santa's nice list the past two years. Better make that his extra nice list since the Tigers didn't have to wait until Christmas, receiving their last two presents in the summer.
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Last August, the Memphis players got an early gift when a renovated Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium locker room was unveiled prior to the 2018 season opener. Then, this July, the program celebrated the opening of Phase 1 of the new Indoor Practice Facility (IPF).
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Santa comes through – even in the sweltering Memphis summers.
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"We're very happy in here," said Darrell Turner, Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine. "We got a lot of new equipment, a lot of toys to play with."
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Phase 1 is fully functional and nearly complete, with a few finishing touches to the coaches' office suite remaining. The first project is built off the back side of the existing lobby in the Billy J. Murphy Athletics Complex and includes a fully stocked athletic training room, a training table and remodeled coaches' locker rooms on the first level.
Tigers Football's Recruiting Room
The second floor is a coaches' office suite with two conference rooms and a recruiting lounge. An observation deck runs along the entire length of the coaches' suite and will be utilized when the IPF Phase 2 is completed in 2020.
"It's been an incredible transition," head coach Mike Norvell said. "There are some things we're finishing up with the construction. But just to have a training table where all of our guys can eat a meal together is great. The new training room is incredible with the new whirlpool tubs and all the other enhancements. We're able to keep guys on the field, keep them refreshed.
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"Having our offices here makes us so much more efficient. It's great being around our guys all day and not having to travel back-and-forth. All of this has been game-changing for us."
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The players are enjoying the new "digs" as well.
Tigers Football's Dining Room
"The facility is not even completely done yet, and it already makes things 1000 times better for us," said senior Joey Magnifico. "From the training room to the ice tubs to the team eating area, it has everything for us to get our bodies prepared to play."
Fellow senior Austin Hall agreed, "We're grateful for what we have. Whatever is done to improve the facilities here helps us on the field."
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The jewel of Phase 1 is the new athletic training room, which features an isokinetic machine, anti-gravity treadmill and large hot and cold tubs. The area also has treatment tables, custom-designed taping tables, recovery tables and a physician's exam room. According to Turner, the athletic training room enables his staff to be more proactive in their care.
"Moving football to one facility makes it easier," said Turner. "It helps with the volume of student-athletes we work with, and we become more efficient in the care we provide. We have large hot and cold tubs that we can easily fit 20 players in, and they are maximizing it to the fullest.
Training room's hot and cold tubs.
"The biggest thing we now have is space, and our guys are using it to be proactive in taking care of their bodies in hopes of injury prevention. But if they get hurt, we have the resources, or the toys, to help us get them back quickly."
The "toys" Turner and his staff have in the athletic training room would not be possible without the support of donors and former players.
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"We're thankful for the donations, the donors, the people that continue to give back to Memphis Athletics, including our former players," Turner said. "Jake Elliott, Alan Cross, Anthony Miller all gave to our project, allowing us to stock the area with state-of-the-art equipment."
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Another positive of having a new football athletic training room was the renovation of the previous training area – which was used by football and other programs – for the Olympic sports at Memphis.
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"By us moving down to this new facility for football, we've helped our Olympic sports," Turner said. "People may not realize that as we moved to our new training area, we were able to make improvements to the Olympic training room. We repainted the room and added new carpet. We also added new equipment in that area to improve the level of care that we can provide for the Olympic sports and also help those programs with their recruiting."
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Phase 1 is aiding football's recruiting too, especially as the building continues on the IPF's Phase 2.
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"I'm so grateful to see the indoor facility coming," Norvell said. "To know we're going to have a place here in the near future is going to be great. During the building phase, recruits saw the plans, and they were impressed. Now, when they see it in person, it takes it to a whole new level."
