Enclose Death Valley and make it louder? Swinney wants to see it happen

Photo Credit: Mark Mcinnis

by David Hood - Senior Writer - May 3, 2017, 9:59 PM

GREENVILLE – Death Valley is known as one of the loudest stadiums in the country, and the decibel level went up a notch when one end of the stadium was enclosed with the WestZone project. Imagine how loud it could be if part of the east end of the stadium was enclosed, a project that head coach Dabo Swinney wants to see.

Swinney spoke to the media at Wednesday’s Prowl and Growl in Greenville, and TigerNet asked Swinney if there were any future football projects on the horizon. Since Swinney took over, there has always been a capital project somewhere on the horizon – the WestZone project, the indoor practice facility and then the football operations center.

With the February completion of the football operations center, we asked Swinney what was next, and he mentioned there’s more than one thing he wants to see improved.

“Just consistency. That’s where we are right now,” Swinney said. “We’re still moving in a new facility, but there’s a lot of areas within our program that we wanted to continue to improve, whether it’s our dining situation and how the food is being prepared. There are details going on all of the time in all areas of the program. From a huge project standpoint, there are other things down the road. “

Swinney mentioned that there are building projects he would like to see put on the books.

“There are things I’d love to see happen in the stadium that I think would be great for Clemson football and some of the fans,” he said. “There are things from a housing standpoint that I think are important that we address somewhere down the road. Always looking ahead and always paying attention to what’s going on. You never arrive. If you arrive you get passed by. We just want to continue to strive to get better to have consistency within our program like we’ve had. Continue to recruit the right kind of guys, that’s the main thing. Then, get settled into this new facility. We’ve still got a lot to do to really get situated. We’re in it, but it’s like moving in a new house. You’ve got the shower curtains up, get some blinds up in the windows. We’ve got a lot to do still to really finish that off.”

In regards to Death Valley, Swinney said don’t be surprised if an EastZone project is scheduled sooner rather than later.

“I think we’ve got the potential for growth there. I think they’ve done a nice job. We just revamped all of the suites and the boxes and we created that whole SouthZone,” Swinney said. “That’s been great. There have been a lot of things to enhance the fan experience and the box opportunities. The WestZone has been phenomenal. I think some type of EastZone at some point is probably going to come at some point. When down the road, I don’t know. I think you have to always be thinking toward those things. There are certainly opportunities to grow within our stadium.”