DECATUR, Miss.–Building a new football operations center for East Central Community College in Decatur will cost about $5 million. Friday’s appearance by former Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl champion Coach Tony Dungy may have helped raise some of that cash.
The event at the Neshoba County Coliseum was sold out. There was a silent auction of sports memorabilia, followed by Dungy’s speech.
“Excellence with class, if I was still coaching I would steal that line,” said Dungy at a press conference before the event about the school’s motto.
“It’s one of the reasons I retired from coaching, so I could do events like this, where I could make a difference.”
Dungy. who is also a best-selling author, approached the event, which had been in the planninbg for over a year, from a Christian perspective.
“Preparing for the visit of Coach Dungy to our college has been one of the most exciting things I have been a part of in over 20 years in education,” said East Central President, Dr. Billy Stewart. “We anticipate many great things happening through the event.”
The new facility will be located in the north end of Bailey Stadium and will include a state-of-the-art weight room and athletic training facility for all student-athletes. Also included in the plans is a $1 million turf field to replace the existing grass surface.
