The Oregon Ducks are already putting their new practice fields to work, even though the larger facility behind them is still very much a construction site.
A video from Oregon Football showed Dan Lanning’s team conditioning on the relocated outdoor fields at the Hatfield Dowlin Center, with the steel skeleton of the massive indoor building rising in the background. The players weren’t in helmets or pads, but the new turf is down, marked and ready for use while work continues around it.
The project is a big one. Oregon’s new indoor athletics training facility is planned to span 170,000 square feet, and the University says the expected finish date is 2027. The broader expansion also includes the realignment of Leo Harris Parkway and upgrades to nearby community areas, including parking and natural spaces in Alton Baker Park.
Some players in the video appeared to be wearing GPS performance-monitoring vests, the kind used to track speed and workload as teams try to manage training and reduce injury risk.
Lanning has made clear he sees the project as more than just a shiny new building. In an exclusive interview with reporter Bri Amaranthus, he said, “Probably more than anything, just the fact that Oregon continues to prove that we're going to be the best of the best,” Lanning said in 2025.
“When you get here and you're like, these are unbelievable facilities for our players. We talk about living off the land.
And then they find out that it's only gonna get better… There's a lot of benefits to this new building that are going to be really special and directly impact our student athletes.”
He also pointed to the practical side of the setup, from the proximity of classrooms to the indoor field to recovery rooms, a players lounge, a weight room and temperature control. “...
The way we're gonna be able to do prehab and rehab with our players, the setup with our locker room and the convenience of being able to move in and out. The way that we can teach from a walkthrough setting to a meeting room, the way we're going to be able to feed our guys.”
Then he added, “It’s super cool looking.”
The renderings of the project drew plenty of attention when they circulated, and it’s easy to see why. Oregon says the building will become the largest indoor football practice facility in the nation, and at nearly 100 feet tall, it will rank among the tallest practice facilities in the country. That kind of scale matters in a sport where facilities have become a recruiting and branding battleground.
The project is being paid for through private philanthropy, and once it’s complete, it will free up more access to the Moshofsky Center for Oregon’s other teams.
For fans heading to Autzen Stadium, the construction itself is part of the show now. The Ducks open their season against the Boise State Broncos at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 5 in Autzen Stadium.
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Lanning has been encouraged by what he has seen from that group, pointing to their physical tools and the way they approach getting better. Washington and Perich are in position to push for immediate roles in the secondary, with Washington also a candidate to help on special teams and Perich offering versatility from his previous experience. If the development comes quickly, Oregon may not have to wait long for this unit to become a real strength. [Read more 🡒]