Notre Dame Opens New Indoor Football Facilities

Notre Dame’s indoor facilities were in need of an overhaul for a long time.  The University used this off-season to do just that by building a brand new indoor facility for the football team that opened up yesterday with some OTA work by the team.

Notre Dame’s old indoor facilities had been limiting in the past, but that is no longer the case with a full sized field and much higher ceilings.  The Irish had previously used the Loftus Sports Center for indoor practice.  The 30 year old complex had lower ceilings that impacted special teams practice and featured a track around the football field that caused some safety concerns at times.

The Loftus was also being used for upwards of 18 hours a day during the season which caused logistics nightmares as well.  That will no longer be a concern for Brian Kelly and his staff as they design their practice schedules.

First day in our new home. pic.twitter.com/oKWpw1YFbS

— Chip Long (@CoachChipLong) July 23, 2019

One thing you won’t see an abundance of at the new indoor facility though is frivolous amenities.  While Notre Dame focused on building top of the line training facilities, they resisted the urge to join the arms race in college football of adding ridiculous amenities to the facility.  This type of decision will always be debated by the fans as Notre Dame attempts to keep up with the other elite programs in the country while staying true to its core values.

This is the latest in a line of improvements to Notre Dame’s facilities that have occured during Brian Kelly’s tenure including replacing the old grass with turf, installing a jumbtron in Notre Dame Stadium as part of the Campus Crossroads Project, and upgrading the locker room two years ago.  There’s still work to be done to upgrade other components of Notre Dame football facilities, but this is another step in the right direction for the program.