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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Practice Fields, Weight Room Upgraded
6/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
The University of Minnesota has invested more than $1 million in renovations to two areas Gopher Football players utilize heavily. The varsity weight room at the Bierman Field Athletic Building and the outdoor practice fields at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex were both recently upgraded at a total of cost of just more than $1.135 million.
University of Minnesota head football coach Jerry Kill met with area media Tuesday to discuss the projects.
"Having the turf out here for our football program is great, but it's really good for everybody," Kill said, referencing other outdoor sports which also utilize the surface. "This is a great turf. I'm sure our kids are enjoying their summer workouts on it.
"With the weight room, that is something that, when I took the job, I felt like we needed to improve on," Kill continued. "We certainly upgraded it. Again, it not only helps football, but it helps the other sports. I think we've upgraded some things. It will help us stay healthy and hopefully help us move along our program."
While the new fields and weight room will make it more efficient and safer for the Gophers to get their workouts in, there is a benefit to recruiting as well. In fact, that was an area Kill touched on when the first question from a media member was 'Will these upgrades help you win football games?'
"It will certainly help us in recruiting," Kill said. "What helps you win football games is players. The better players you get, the more wins you get. Each kid comes through and they're looking at Iowa, they look at our place, they go to Wisconsin, they go to Michigan and they're all comparing. They're all comparing weight rooms. They're comparing facilities. They're comparing schools. They're comparing wins and losses. That's what they do. If we don't stay up to date with it, we'll fall behind. It certainly is beneficial. It's all about recruiting and getting players to help you turn the program around."
Coach Kill said he hopes the new turf on the practice fields will allow the Gophers to practice outdoors a little earlier in the spring and a little later in the fall.
"You pay money to put something down, I would like to think it's good," Kill said. "I know this is state-of-the-art turf. It's all about preventing injury. It certainly feels good for an old man like me to walk around on."
Head strength and conditioning coach Eric Klein supplied the vision for the upgrades that were made to the weight room. According to Klein, the weight room has already paid dividends in a number of ways.
"We're able to get more guys in here now," Klein said. "The motivation factor alone ... the thing that got me was when our athletes first walked in, it was like 'Wow! I really want to get after it in here now.' That's the big thing. They love it. The excitement of
"From an efficiency standpoint, we're able to do more now in a shorter amount of time," Klein continued. "Time is a big factor in a student-athlete's day."
This is the first major renovation to the weight room at the Bierman building since 1997. Meanwhile, the previous turf on the Gibson-Nagurski Complex outdoor practice fields hadn't been replaced since 2000.
-By Andy Seeley, Associate Director of Athletic Communications
