Football Training Facility

he new 50,000 square foot Student Athlete Performance Center at Tennessee State University marks a significant investment in every student athlete that wears the TSU Blue by bringing a suite of state-of-the-art developmental and restorative amenities that are required to ensure this storied athletics program will find continued success for decades to come. Sited in the North end zone of historic William J. Hale Stadium, home of the TSU Tigers football program, the Student Athlete Performance Center will provide a centrally located destination for Tiger Athletes, an operations and meeting space for the Athletic Department and a museum and hall of fame for visitors. The clean forms that house the programmatic functions of the Center are shrouded by behind a carefully composed arrangement of fritted glass, perforated aluminum panels and angled and overlapping columns that are guided by the concept of “Tigers in the Grass”. The exaggerated roof plane is shifted to the west to create a monumental front porch to the museum and hall of fame, a space designed to host the world-famous TSU marching band: Aristocrat of Bands on game days. Inside the Student Athlete Performance Center are a 3 story Museum and Hall of fame designed as an interactive ribbon of history and achievement celebrating such alum as Wilma Rudolph and Ed “Too Tall” Jones. This space includes a media room and a ticketing box office. Across the game day tunnel is found many of the Athlete development spaces. Weightroom, training and hydrotherapy rooms, nutrition hub along with locker rooms and a state-of-the-art sport environment simulator where athletes can virtually train live game conditions. The second floor is dominated by coaching offices and team meeting rooms along with the Athlete Study Hall which will provide quiet study areas and make tutors and other learning services available to all Tiger athletes. The top floor houses athletic offices where recruiting, NIL development and booster services are arranged with prime views over the football field. The balance of the top floor is made up of the athletes’ lounge and canteen. These communal spaces spill out onto an expansive roof terrace to the east designed to cater to large gatherings and moments of one-on-one conversations alike. The interiors throughout are intended to be crisp and dynamic, with a balance of the TSU blue and warm woods. Branding is strategically applied to keep athletes connected to the history that came before them and the history they’ll leave behind.