The Tulane Green Wave football team unveiled their 65-yard indoor practice field with a full end zone, marking a major moment in athletics.
Among the reasons that former coach Willie Fritz had for leaving for the Houston Cougars – or at least one of the ones he made public – was the lack of progress on the Tulane Green Wave football team’s indoor practice facility. It was a bit less important to his successor, Jon Sumrall, who had said he’d be fine with it all going to NIL. However, the realities of New Orleans, La., make an indoor practice field pretty crucial. Some years, the team gets lucky. Fritz had a few where a considerable number of practices were cancelled due to lightning.
New head coach Will Hall won’t have to deal with facilitating time at the Saints practice facility or heading to the Superdome, which they’ve done for the last 12 years. There have been times where there’s no availability and the team can’t practice. Now, they’ll have an indoor practice facility that’s just a short walk from the football operations building. The bubble is outside Turchin Stadium and will be available for 17 of the school’s Division I sports. However, the field is designed for football, with a 65-yard football field and a full end zone. It has the same coconut turf that Yulman Stadium has, something they installed after playing on it at AT&T Stadium during the Cotton Bowl.
It officially opened on Tuesday, Feb. 24, about four months after its expected completion date, following a historic season where Tulane made its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. Inside the inflatable, removable cover that goes 60 feet high – allowing punting and kicking practice to be accommodated – is the field that also is wider than a standard, regulation football field – likely to make up for the lack of a full field in length. It marks years in the making since the team had an influx of funds from winning the Cotton Bowl, including a site change from a field outside of the Reily Center, the recreation center on campus.
There is certainly something fun about the players getting a chance to practice at the Saints facility with the banners of championships and great players hanging from the rafters, and under the lights at the Superdome. But a storm in New Orleans can pop up with no notice; a light drizzle can urgently turn into a thunderstorm; lightning can randomly rear its ugly head and force a shut down for safety reasons. And even without lightning, some of the torrential rainstorms here can frankly be ridiculous. The team needs a space they can 100% turn to in times of need, and one that doesn’t require a costly bus ride to and from that also eats into practice time. The recognition of that, and the official opening of the solution, is a moment to remember in Tulane Athletics.