UCF receives $5.5 million pledge for new football operations building
UCF‘s Board of Trustees approved naming its proposed football operations building the Taylor A. Gerring Football Center.
The move acknowledges a $5.5 million financial gift from Gerring, a 2005 UCF graduate who is a pioneer in blockchain technology and co-founder of Ethereum Foundation.
The gift is the largest single cash pledge given to the athletics department and is part of the Mission XII fundraising initiative, which was created to upgrade the athletic department’s operating budget and athletic facilities as the school enters Year 2 in the Big 12 Conference.
“This is a tremendous opportunity,” said BOT chair Alex Martins.
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Gerring also has pledged $1 million to The Kingdom, UCF’s official NIL collective.
“I’m happy to give back to the university to show my appreciation for everything that’s been provided to me,” Gerring said in a statement. “My hope is that it inspires other students to achieve great things.
“I am proud to make this investment in UCF Football. Our competitive success on the field is very important to the comprehensive growth and progress of the university. This is my way to do what I can in this moment of time as we enter the Big 12 Conference.”
The two-story standalone football operations building was included in a proposed football campus that UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir initially presented to the BOT in 2021.
Those plans have since evolved and now include several phases, including Phase One, which would see the building of McNamara Cove and the “Sharon and Marc Hagle Gateway.” It will serve as an activation area on gamedays while providing an additional entryway to the football stadium.
“We’re so grateful for Taylor and how he continues to be one of the biggest supporters of our program,” said coach Gus Malzahn said in a statement. “This gift is huge for our program, both now and in the future, and we’re extremely thankful for his investment in UCF football.”
Phase Two includes rebuilding the Roth Tower on the stadium’s west side.
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The operations building will house football coaches’ offices, meeting rooms and a student-athlete lounge. Currently, the football offices are located in the Wayne Densch Sports Complex.
With the naming rights in hand, UCF Athletics plans to move ahead with its campus groundbreaking in 2024 with several projects expected to be completed by ’26.
Mohajir recently told the Orlando Sentinel that the department would begin moving the two football practice fields to create space for the campus entryway while providing additional parking and a promenade. Moving the field could happen as early as the end of spring football camp in April.
UCF also received approval from Orange County officials for $90 million of Tourism Development Tax dollars to fund the football stadium tower at FBC Mortgage Stadium. The project has been on hold for almost eight months as the school worked with the county to secure the funding.
Mohajir said work on the new tower will begin in the fall, with upgrades going on year-round.
“As of now, the plan is that [the tower] will never be out of use,” Mohajir said.
The new tower is expected to add 1,200-1,500 new seats to the stadium, opening things up for season-ticket holders to move from the premium area to the new building.
The additions should help UCF athletics as it continues progressing in the Big 12.
“We don’t have to have the most opulent facilities in the world. We have to have cool, indigenous facilities and we have to be very thoughtful of what we’re building,” Mohajir said.
Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on X at @osmattmurschel.
