Texas to begin construction on new football practice complex this June, along with other facility upgrades
Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte describes himself as a builder, and that is a quality that will be on display in the coming months and years. The Longhorns are set to begin construction on a new football practice facility this June, leaving The Bubble behind for greener, natural pastures as part of a number of upgrades to existing edifices.
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“We needed to address our football practice facility,” Del Conte said Tuesday. “We have a bubble that was built in the early 2000s. Our student-athletes have to leave the stadium and walk… a little under 800 yards to the practice field, and it’s just not conducive to time management.”
The new practice facility will be built just south of 20th Street where the UT School of Social Work currently sits inside the structure of the old University Junior High. Del Conte said Social Work will move to a new facility and that Texas athletics received permission from UT president Jay Hartzell to place a football practice facility on the site.
The new facility will feature indoor and outdoor fields plus an area for the Silver Spurs, the current caretakers of Bevo XV and Smokey the Cannon.
The completion of the new practice facility will allow for an often-requested renovation to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Once the new complex is completed, Campbell-Williams Field will once again be a natural grass surface, according to Del Conte.
“The goal is to put grass in DKR in ’26,” Del Conte said, referencing the targeted completion date of April 2026 for the facility.
Other additions or renovations to DKR were announced as well. Del Conte said they planned to put a new scoreboard in the south end zone ahead of the upcoming season.
“We have a scoreboard that does not match the ribbon board,” Del Conte said. “It’s a mess, to tell you the truth. We’ve kind of hodge-podged this. (Executive senior associate athletic director for external affairs) Drew (Martin) said we need to fix this. We’re going to put a brand new scoreboard in this summer.”
Texas also plans to put grab-and-go concessions on the east side of the stadium so fans can make quicker stops at the concession stand. Other renovations include an update of the Touchdown Club on the eighth floor of the north end zone, suite corridor improvements on the eighth and ninth floor of the south and east sides, and a complete refurbishing of the UT Club.
Part of the UT Club renovations include the creation of a new lettermen’s lounge for members of the T-Association. “This fall, we’re going to have a great place for all our letterman to gather before games and throughout the year,” Del Conte said.
Another addition to DKR was a recruiting lounge, something Steve Sarkisian‘s program has already taken advantage of. The lounge sits on the south edge of the Moncrief-Neuhaus complex and provides an unparalleled view of downtown Austin.
Above the lounge, Texas plans to place an illuminated Longhorn logo on the south side of the stadium scoreboard. Metal and other materials will replace the burnt orange mesh screen that’s been in place for several years.
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“You see that screen where the Longhorn logo is? That thing drives me crazy and we didn’t get to finish the project,” Del Conte said. “We are going to completely fill that in and we’re going to backlight the Longhorn. When everyone’s driving down the freeway, I want everyone to see the lit Longhorn so they know where they’re at.”
Natural surfaces at another home of the Longhorns was another topic Del Conte talked about. UFCU Disch-Falk Field has been an Astroturf or FieldTurf surface since it opened in the 1970s, yet Longhorn fans have clamored for it to become a natural grass field for some time.
Del Conte cited the current shade pattern created by the Disch-Falk grandstand, the infrastructure underneath the playing surface, and the recent re-laying of an artificial surface as reasons why changing the Disch to grass wasn’t an immediate priority like it is for football. However, he knows it is something that will come up in the first few years of Texas’ SEC membership.
“From a baseball perspective, I want to wait and see how the SEC looks like,” Del Conte said.
While Disch-Falk won’t have a new playing surface, there is a new area in left field called the Yeti Yard that will have fans at field level along the fence in left-center.
“Can’t wait to see it,” Del Conte said. “It’s going to be awesome.”
There were other notable facility notes from Del Conte. He announced the addition of a new locker room for the beach volleyball program. He touched on renovating McCombs Field, the home of Texas’ softball program.
“There’s ways we’re looking at McCombs Field and where we can expand. We’ve done some seating in the outfield this year because they have the room,” Del Conte said. “When you go to a game this year, graduate housing is moving all the way around the facilities of softball. They’ll start construction on a new part of it this coming spring this well. It’s going to be pretty tight, but we know we have to address that at some point in time.”
He even hinted at the idea of building a “Mini-Moody” for the back-to-back national champion volleyball program, which would help the athletic department by moving a prominent sport into a facility owned by UT Athletics as opposed to the UT Rec Sports-owned Gregory Gym.
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If not the move to the SEC, facilities were the topic de jour of Del Conte’s town hall. If what Del Conte spoke about holds true, the future of Texas athletics involves a lot of building, change, and facility upgrades for football, baseball, and other successful sports.
