Florida Gators football practice starts Aug. 6, indoor facility construction ahead of schedule

Appearing at the 2015 Southeastern Conference Media Days on Monday, Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain announced that the program will report for camp on Aug. 5 and open up practice the following day, taking the field for the first time since the spring on Aug. 6.

When Florida does begin preparing for the 2015 campaign, the Gators may be able to spend some time in its under-construction indoor practice facility, even though it is not scheduled to be completed until September.

According to McElwain, construction on the IPF is ahead of schedule. Florida has applied for a permit to utilize the facility for two-a-days during the summer despite it still being in its final stages of completion.

“I think it was long needed, and it’s a beautiful facility. They’re ahead of the construction date right now. It sounds like we’ll at least be able to get permit to be able to go spend a couple hours in there as we go through two-a-days. So that’s something that’s really exciting, and it’s exciting for our guys,” he explained.

McElwain also discussed how the Gators’ overall infrastructure improvement project has expanded to the dorms, which are currently being renovated for the athletes and will be ready by the fall semester.

Florida announced as much earlier this month, but McElwain got into detail about the project for the first time.

“Gutting out some of the dorms, the living arrangements is something we tackled right away, and that should be finished up for these guys to be moving in this fall. And we’re excited about that and the security within those dorms, something that’s really important,” he said.

The $17 million construction of the IPF, coupled with the price tag-less renovations to the dorms are just the beginning for the Gators, which also put a Gatorade Fuel Bar in the players’ area and are spending $25 million to rejuvenate the Office of Student Life for the entire Florida athletic program.

“The academic center and the nutrition component, the money that we put in there [will be beneficial],” McElwain said.

“As I told the people around, ‘Don’t worry about our offices.’ It doesn’t matter. It’s about what the players – it’s about helping them. We’re moving in that direction. Got a long ways to go, but it’s good to see that those things are happening.”