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SALT LAKE CITY— So the Utah football program has built its shiny and spacious $32 million facility, replete with every amenity that blows away any five-star resort. Add ocean views and lush golf course and you’ve got a vacation destination.
Now what?
If it’s true that defense wins championships, the opposite can be said for buildings. Cement and 2x4s can make a nice foundation, but they have never made a tackle or scored a touchdown.
The most important ingredients for a winning football program happen on the field. Football players making great football plays are what determine success.
But fancy structures matter. Shiny objects impress teenagers.
As much as the Utes have struggled to compete in the Pac 12, they haven’t come close to doing the same off the field. Utah’s primary football facility — which now includes coaches offices, training and locker rooms, a cafeteria along with many other assorted bells and whistles — fell woefully short of Pac 12 standards.
Three years into Utah’s dramatic step up in competition, its football complex ranks favorably with most of the Pac 12 teams. By saying “most,” the obvious exception is the University of Oregon, otherwise known as Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s toy.
Oregon’s new digs costs $68 million, a figure some say is grossly underestimated. Obviously, the shoe business has blossomed.
Unless the Utes get a fan like Knight, they’ll never live in Oregon’s neighborhood. But the house down the mountain still has a pretty view.
“The facility offers us the resources we need to compete in the Pac 12 conference and nationally,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.
And it comes with a price that goes far beyond dollars and sense.
The new complex ups the ante. In short, the Utes have no excuses.
“We’re competing with the biggest of the big,” athletic director Chris Hill said during the building’s ribbon-cutting ceremony,” and we’re going to get there.”
As all football coaches always say, the Utah coaching staff puts more pressure and demands on itself than any outside influence can ever duplicate. Either way, the heat is cranked up high.
In football terms, the present state isn’t going to cut it anymore. Utah has a combined 7-11 conference record over its first two seasons and has yet to beat a team with a winning record.
The forecasts for this season aren’t much better. Many so-called experts expect the Utes, who were picked only ahead of the horrendous Colorado Buffaloes in the six-team South Division, to fight to achieve the six wins required for bowl eligibility.
Spence Eccles, whose name adorns the building along with his deceased wife's, didn’t donate all that money for the sake of mediocrity. During the dedication ceremony, he referenced the long drive home from Logan last season after Utah State won the in-state battle.
But it is possible Eccles could get an immediate return on his investment. Senior defensive star Trevor Reilly noted the structure already has promoted better team camaraderie.
“Nobody will want to leave,” he said.
And they will also want to come.
Whittingham said that 75 percent of the last recruiting class chose Utah because of conference affiliation. That number figures to only increase over the next several years.
“It was big,” freshman quarterback Conner Manning said of Utah’s affiliation. “I knew I wanted to play on a big stage. The Pac 12 is one of the biggest.”
In a side note, in-state high school or junior college recruits who don’t seriously consider Utah are crazy. They owe it to themselves to at least investigate the opportunity to compete at the highest level every season.
In the final analysis, facilities can only account for so much in a team’s success. But there’s no doubt the Utes now have a much better chance at it.
