It was an exciting day for the Mississippi State athletic department as it announced Wednesday the university will build a new football training and office facility, courtesy of the largest gift in the department’s history.
The athletic department received a gift of $12 million  from former MSU football players, twin brothers Lee and Leo Seal. The gift was made in honor of their late father, Leo Seal, Jr. Seal, Jr. was also a former MSU football player, long-time Bulldog Club donor and president of Hancock Bank.
Scott Stricklin, MSU’s Athletic Director, said the Seal family has been instrumental to MSU’s success.
“The generosity of the Seal family has always set a great example of philanthropic donations to Mississippi State, both academics and athletics,” Stricklin said. “Not only is the largest gift in our athletics history, it will most likely be one of the largest gifts in all of college athletics this year.”
Including the gift from the Seal family, the project is funded by donations from over 35 families, totaling more than $17 million raised at this time. The funds will be financed privately through gifts made to the Bulldog Club.
Dan Mullen said the facilities will be vital to his team’s success on the gridiron.
“The design and vision of the facility we have will put us I feel as the premier football facility in the Southeastern Conference,” said Mullen. “The teaching of the players to me is the number one reason that we are excited to have this facility built. The players will learn, train, change and practice all in one area. 
The construction of the football facilities and renovations to the practice fields will cost an estimated $20 to $25 million dollars. The 80,000 square foot facility will feature a new weight room, locker room, training room and coaches’ offices. The location of the facility will be on the hill north of the Palmeiro Center, which is adjacent to the football practice fields.
Construction of the facility will begin once sufficient funding is raised to complete the project. Stricklin said donations are still being taken.
“Our staff continues to work toward securing the additional finances needed to make this a reality,” said Stricklin.  “We would love to start before the end of the calendar year. Once we get started, it could be a 12 to 14 month project.”
Mullen said he feels this is the next step in greatness for the Bulldogs.
“We have a vision of where we want to be, and we want to get there,” said Mullen. “And the sooner this project gets up, it will helps us continue to move to that future that we see for our football program, the athletic department as a whole and the university.”
With a new football facility close to reality, the next big issue is stadium expansion. Stricklin said if expansion does happen, it will be financed by bonds because the seats are self-genereating revenue. Mullen said the key to making expansion happen is continued sellout crowds in the fall.
“I’ve been a big proponent of it, and I know a lot of people are excited about stadium expansion, but I’m a big proponent of our fan base dictating stadium expansion,” Mullen said. “I’ll be honest with you, I guarantee you if we have 55,000 here on Saturday and standing room only, we’re going to increase the speed of the stadium expansion.”