Richie Leonard had heard about Florida State’s desire for a new football building going back to when he was a high school prospect. And that was before coach Mike Norvell even arrived.

“I know it’s been in the works for a while,” said Leonard, a second-year offensive lineman at FSU. “I remember being in the 10th grade, coming on a visit and they were talking about building it.”

The dream is now the reality. From concept to design, approval, fundraising and construction, FSU’s football building opened up after the second bye week. The Seminoles have enjoyed the $138 million building, which connects to the indoor practice facility and is adjacent to the outdoor practice fields.

FSU’s football building features similar elements of what is in the Moore Athletic Center. But the new building offers expanded space for the 105 players to work out in the weight room, receive treatment in the training room and sports medicine room, recover in cold and hot therapy tubs and gather in a team meeting room. There are also position-specific rooms with oversized wall graphics and images of some of the best Seminoles in program history.

“My first impression walking in was just, ‘Wow.’ This is a wonderful building,” Leonard said. “We are extremely lucky to be the group that got to move into that building. … It makes our day to day so much better. It just streamlines everything. Everything that we need is right over there in that building.”

FSU athletics, Seminole Boosters, coach Mike Norvell and staff members spent years planning and reshaping the concept for the football building. The project has long been a priority for FSU president Dr. Richard McCullough, who said during the December 2022 groundbreaking event that a new business school and the football building were his two big construction priorities.

Just a few miles apart, FSU alumni who return for homecoming or this fall can see how both projects have taken shape. In the case of FSU’s football building, an architect’s concept to transform a long, narrow piece of real estate (a parking lot) has become a functional, livable space for the Seminoles. The architect on the project was nicknamed “Shoehorn” by FSU athletics director Michael Alford for his rendering of the building, said Ben Zierden, FSU's Senior Associate Athletics Director for Facilities and Capital Projects.

“We were one of the last in our conference and in Power 4 to get something like this,” Zierden said. “It was really important for the development of our student-athletes. Certainly weighs in on recruiting. But really gives them everything they need.”

FSU now also has two locker rooms. The one in the new football building is used on practice days, while the one inside Moore (which was remodeled about four years ago) will still be used by the team on game days.

Norvell said the Seminoles have gratitude for what the football building means to them and their day-to-day work.

“It's a state-of-the-art facility,” Norvell said. “Obviously I think it's one of the best in the United States of America. It's been something that's been on discussion for six years since I've been here, and we're one week into it, and the amount of gratitude that I have -- there's been a lot of sacrifice from people that have invested to make this a reality.”

The football building could also provide a boost for a struggling football team on the field in 2025. There’s a sense of pride the Seminoles have in what the building means, a tradition established by generations of players.

“We’re extremely grateful for it,” defensive back KJ Kirkland said. “If anything, it makes us go harder. We know the guys that came in before us, they paved the way for us, they allowed us to get this new facility.”

Thanks for reading the Osceola. Subscribe now for less than $70 annually to enjoy a full year of coverage of FSU athletics. You’ll also earn discounts at the Osceola’s merch store and Alumni Hall.