Clemson’s new $55 million football operations facility hasn’t been completed for long, but it is already starting to make an impact in recruiting.

The weekend after coaches and staff members officially moved into the facility on Jan. 25, Clemson had the opportunity to show it off while hosting some of the nation’s top prospects for its Elite Junior Day.

As one can imagine, it was a hit.

“It’s exciting, and you can see the kids light up whenever they do come into this facility and see it,” Clemson recruiting coordinator Brandon Streeter said on national signing day.

Among the many amenities the facility offers is a career development and leadership center, players’ lounge, training/rehab facility, nutrition center and dining facility, weight room, locker rooms, meeting rooms and coaches’ offices.

Of course, it also contains amenities meant for enjoyment, such as a bowling alley, barbershop, movie theater, nine-hole putt-putt course and an outdoor seating and grilling area.

While the fun parts aren’t what the structure is about, they add to the unique Clemson experience that Dabo Swinney envisioned before the project began, and they certainly don’t hurt when it comes to recruiting.

“I honestly don’t know what else you could want, and it checks so many boxes,” Streeter said. “You want a haircut, you go downstairs and get a haircut. You want to go bowling, you go bowling. You want to go on a golf simulator and play any golf course in the whole world, then go play it downstairs. So, there are so many positives.”

“Dabo’s World” as some affectionately call it is the new standard in college football facilities.

Knowing what it has in the facility, Streeter said Clemson wants prospects to see it as early as possible so they have a measuring stick to go by as they visit other schools.

“You just get them over there and get them on campus, and then as early as you can get them on campus so that they can see it,” Streeter said. “The earlier that we can get them on campus as unofficial visitors and show them this place, that allows them to go other places and realize it’s hard to beat what we have here.”

Swinney’s goal for the facility wasn’t simply to give Clemson an advantage over its competitors in recruiting — he imagined a building that would help bring his entire program together.

And the facility, of course, won’t draw recruits to Clemson by itself. The rich and winning tradition of Clemson’s program, the people involved in the program and the culture at Clemson in general have always been main attractions.

The facility is just icing on the cake.

“It’s very important for me to say that the facilities are like the icing on the cake,” Streeter said. “Because they’re around us and they’re around the people here, and that’s what kind of gets them. And then you have the facilities to show them on top of that, it’s hard to beat.”

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