The Mike & Brenda Harrison Football Performance Center houses a heated studio, the
Brown-Lupton Foundation Track, multipurpose room, the Jamal Powell Strength Room and
the Cunningham Nutrition Center with its iconic purple Hypnotoad smoothie.
TCU Trustee and football legend LaDainian Tomlinson test-drove one of the recovery
pods at the Simpson Family Restoration Center on a recent visit and exited equal parts
relaxed and impressed.
“I’m really proud of the university,” LT said.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame running back played the game at the highest levels and
understands the importance of investing in the whole student-athlete. So who better
than LT to give everybody a peek at the $50 million, donor-funded human performance
and restoration facilities that TCU Athletics recently opened?
It’s Horned Frog-branded and all in the details at these state-of-the-art, technology-informed
athletics facilities, said Chancellor Daniel W. Pullin, pictured at right.
A gift from head football coach Sonny Dykes (right) and his wife, Kate, was the catalyst
for the Jamal Powell Strength Room. The football team has wasted no time breaking
in this best-in-class facility in preparation for the 2025 season, which kicks off
Sept. 1 against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
One of the prettiest and busiest spots at the Simpson Family Restoration Center is
the purple cold plunge recovery pool. The benefits of a 50-degree hydrotherapy session
after training are many and well-known.
Training and recovery are not simply physical. They’re mental and, as LT learned firsthand,
the relaxation pods, cryo lounge and hydro deep-tissue massage chairs at the Simpson
Family Restoration Center help with both.
The infrared therapy beds are a favorite among the Horned Frog student-athletes, helping
with soft-tissue and bone injuries, pain management, inflammation and detoxification
as well as increasing blood flow for general recovery, starting at the cellular level
in the muscles.
It does not snow often in Fort Worth, but it snows every day in the Simpson Family
Restoration Center. TCU is the first and only collegiate or professional athletics
facility in North America with a 7-degree snow room … and it’s purple. Student-athletes
typically do two cycles of contrast therapy incorporating the adjacent 190-degree
sauna (sauna-snow room-sauna-snow room).
Pullin, talking with head tennis coach David Roditi, noted one of the best parts of
the human performance and restoration facilities is seeing student-athletes from all
22 sports coming together to benefit from these facilities.
