Newly-hired Auburn athletic director Allen Greene improved the University of Buffalo’s football facilities with a $18 million facility.
Now, at his new university, he may be looking to dramatically improve facilities at Auburn.
In his opening press conference on The Plains, Greene said Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn had already mentioned an idea for a stand-alone football facility. Greene, to Malzahn’s excitement, said that facility may become a reality in the near future.
“Coach (Gus) Malzahn already hit me up for a stand-alone football facility, so I think that’s going to be on the docket,” Greene said. “Football, certainly, is the driving engine of it all. This is an enterprise, and it’s really, really important that football be successful.”
It comes as no surprise that Malzahn does want a new, stand-alone football facility. Clemson, Texas A&M and other top programs around the country have recently built state-of-the-art facilities that have placed Auburn’s facility, which was built in 1989, far behind.
“We’ll sit down and we’ll talk about it — everything as far as football is concerned and all that, in due time,” Malzahn said. “We’ll talk about that. That was a joke we brought up as we were getting to know each other and all that…I’m really excited to have Allen here. He’s going to do a super job.
“He's got a dynamic personality. He's got a dynamic vision for not just football but Auburn athletics. I really feel like our students are going to be excited, our student-athletes are going to be excited. It's a great fit right now."
Greene said his relationship with Malzahn will be hands-on and will help lead to success on the field.
“Something that I appreciate with this opportunity is having the chance to sit down with Coach Malzahn,” Greene said. “I think the world of him - incredibly humble, wants to win, wants to win the right way, and I’m really looking forward, Gus, I’m looking forward to working with you and supporting you to the best of my ability.”
Auburn’s fifth-year head coach will be busy on the recruiting trail for the first few weeks of Greene’s tenure at Auburn, but he said he is excited to get to work with Greene.
“I'm just excited about that, developing that relationship. We'll do this thing together. I think he's a great leader for Auburn athletics right now. I think he's ready to take us to that next level.”
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