AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas unveiled its new football training complex Friday, a facility that officials and coaches said will help elevate a program already among the nation’s most successful.

The Frank and Wofford Denius Texas Football Training Complex sits just south of Royal-Memorial Stadium along Robert Dedman Drive, on the site of the former Steve Hicks School of Social Work. It replaces Denius Field and the indoor practice bubble as the Longhorns’ primary practice facility.

University of Texas System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife credited head coach Steve Sarkisian, athletic director Chris Del Conte and university President Jim Davis with elevating the athletic department.

Del Conte said the project stemmed from years of underinvestment in football facilities dating back to coach Darrell Royal’s era, and he recounted Sarkisian once asking, during his hiring, whether it was true the team bused about a mile to practice on yellow school buses.

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“It’s not about building the best. It’s giving our coaches and our student athletes all the tools necessary to be great,” Del Conte said.

The complex is named for the late Frank Denius, a decorated World War II veteran and longtime Longhorn booster, and his son, Wofford “Woofie” Denius. Denius said he initially objected to plans to move practice fields away from the historic Denius Fields, but became enthusiastic once he learned the new facility would sit near Memorial Stadium and Freshman Field.

“For the first 22 years of my life, Memorial Stadium was my home away from home,” Denius said.

Sarkisian and players Arch Manning and Trevor Goosby also spoke at the ceremony. Manning thanked the donors and university officials who made the project possible.

“I know it took a lot of people, it takes a village to pour into this,” Manning said. “We’re so excited and we’re gonna make y’all proud this year.”

Texas opens its 2026 season Saturday against Texas State at Royal-Memorial Stadium.