A rendering from global design firm HOK of the entrance to what will be known as the James W. "Bill" Heavener Football Training Center. (Courtesy of HOK)
Gators to Name New Football Facility after Heavener
Monday, December 9, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
Share:
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – He first met the spirited up-and-coming coach more than a decade ago when Dan Mullen was Florida's offensive coordinator and his star pupil was quarterback Tim Tebow.
Bill Heavener eventually got to know Mullen, but he needed no introduction to Tebow. Heavener and Tebow's father, Bob, were college roommates and have remained close through the years. James W. "Bill" Heavener is a 1970 UF graduate.
As seasons passed and the Gators won a pair of national championships during the Mullen-Tebow years, Heavener's generous financial contributions helped make possible the Heavener Football Complex, which opened at the corner of Gale Lemerand Drive and Stadium Road in the summer of 2008.
The glass-walled building currently serves as the front door of the Gators' football facility. When the Gators move into their projected $85 million new day-to-day home as early as December 2021, the Heavener name is moving too.
Florida's standalone facility, set to be built on the current site of McKethan Stadium, will be officially known as the James W. "Bill" Heavener Football Training Center as part of a lead gift from Heavener. The UF Board of Trustees approved the measure on Friday afternoon. A 1970 UF graduate and a graduate of the Harvard Business School, Heavener is a longtime donor to the University of Florida and the University Athletic Association. The gift to the Football Training Center follows his commitments to the Heavener School of Business, Heavener Hall, the Heavener Football Complex, support of the Athletic Department's video division (GatorVision) and a scholarship endowment for the athletic department.
Heavener's latest financial contribution, which will remain undisclosed, has special meaning considering his ties to Mullen and the football program.
"I just think the world of him,'' Heavener said. "The seasons ahead are going to be good for the Gators. We've got a great coach in Coach Mullen and in order to be competitive, we need a great facility like some of the other schools in the SEC.
"We're certain that with the right resources, Coach will bring us another national championship. I'm excited to be a part of that."
In his three years as Florida's athletic director, one of Scott Stricklin's primary tasks has been working closely with Gator Boosters to secure private funds to make the facility a reality. When Mullen returned to UF to take over the program prior to the 2018 season, Heavener's interest in the facility heightened.
He watched as Mullen led the Gators to a 10-3 record in his first season and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory over Michigan, and followed that with a 10-2 season in 2019 and a second consecutive victory over Florida State. Heavener's talks with Phil Pharr, executive director of Gator Boosters, and Stricklin intensified about possibly contributing to the project.
Heavener has maintained a simple philosophy over the years in his philanthropic efforts.
"Mostly to make sure there is some value that I can add in helping the project get completed,'' he said.
He saw that he could with the Gators' football training facility and Stricklin is grateful.
"The facility itself is going to be a really important part of Gator football going forward. It's an important investment for our present and also our future,'' Stricklin said. "To have a guy like Bill be associated with it, you are talking about one of our more devoted and generous fans, but also one of the most positive. Part of the reason he is a great leader and a great success is he is always looking for the good in things and people and programs.
"We talk about championship experience with integrity and that's a mark of Gators Athletics, and Bill embodies that in every shape and form. It's fitting that this facility that is going to help Gator football moving forward for generations to come and will have Bill's name on it."
A rendering from global design firm HOK of the Gators' new standalone football facility, which will feature a dining hall and recreation space for all UF student-athletes.
Construction on the 140,000-square foot complex is tentatively scheduled to start in July 2020 and will be adjacent to the team's Condron Family Indoor Practice Facility. The facility will include the Gators' meeting rooms, locker room, strength-and-conditioning center, training room and coaches' offices. The facility will also feature a dining hall and recreation space of all UF student-athletes.
As the UAA devised plans for the project, Heavener got involved by visiting other schools to tour their facilities and get a better understanding of what the Gators needed. He came away convinced a new facility would help the Gators modernize the program on a daily basis and benefit players and coaches.
"Everything really started happening when Dan arrived. I think from the very beginning, Dan said he wasn't going to let a lack of facilities to stand in the way of the Gators getting back into the forefront of SEC competition,'' Heavener said. "He's done what he needed to do with the resources he had, which just speaks to him being that much greater a coach.
"I think a nice facility really has an effect on whether the players come to your school or not, whether they can play at a school with all the resources they need to train properly and with a coach that can win games. To me, that's kind of a winning combination. I think we've got the coach that can win games."
Up next, that standalone facility with a familiar name attached.
