Earlier this year, Mississippi State unveiled its athletics master plan. Included in that were plans for a new football-only indoor practice facility. Currently, Mississippi State is the only SEC football program without an indoor facility devoted exclusively to football, lacking a full-sized indoor practice field. They share the Palmeiro Center with baseball, which has a 50-yard field, but for a SEC program, that's simply not good enough.
Clearly with the master plan in place, State was ready to step into the modern age. And now, there's funding in place to assure the Bulldogs get caught up to the rest of the league.
Mississippi State football receives lead donation to build new indoor practice facility
On Wednesday, Mississippi State announced that they are moving forward with plans for a football-only indoor practice facility thanks to a lead gift from Howard Industries. The new facility will be named in honor of Bulldog alumnus and former student athlete Billy W. Howard Sr.
The new facility will be over 110,000 square-feet, featuring a 100-yard practice field and areas dedicated to sports science to maximize player health. It will be built alongside the existing Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex, which will also see upgrades through this project. It will take approximately $60 million to complete. The expectation is for groundbreaking to take place in 2027 with the indoor facility opening in 2028 and final upgrades being completed in 2029.
Zac Selmon continues to push Mississippi State in the right direction
Zac Selmon doesn't frequently get much praise for the job he's done in Starkville. In fact, he's often faced criticism given some on-field struggles, notably with football. But the reality is since being hired as AD in early 2023, he's done a fantastic job of getting his athletic department in shape or the modern era.
Selmon has worked hard to get Mississippi State to a competitive place in the NIL and, eventually, revenue sharing space. State's collective, the Bulldog Initiative, grew substantially under Selmon's watch. He then debuted the State Excellence Fund and landed major contributions for it so that MSU is set for the revenue sharing era.
And now we're seeing his leadership show in facility upgrades. Long-awaited LED lights are currently being installed at Davis Wade Stadium, and we know sound system upgrades are on the way. Landing the donations necessary to get the football program an indoor practice facility, something that should have but did not happen under the prior two ADs, is yet another sign that he's doing whatever is necessary to grow this athletic department.
Yes, Selmon will ultimately be judged by his coaching hires. Whether or not Jeff Lebby is successful is very much TBD, and the baseball hire will be critical to how he's received. But there's no question that Mississippi State is in a much better place in college athletics thanks to Zac Selmon.