Video/Photos: ISU strength guru on Bergstrom Football Complex

AMES - Former Iowa State star quarterback Seneca Wallace enjoyed a sneak peek at the Cyclones' new Bergstrom Football Complex during last weekend's dedication.

Needless to say the NFL veteran-turned free agent left impressed.

“It's night and day, man,” Wallace said when asked to compare it to facilities he used as an ISU player over 10 years ago. “It's incredible. I've been in two (home) locker rooms in my 10-year career in the NFL. At Seattle, we got a new one and this one here is better than that. And that's the pros. The stuff that they've been doing here ... the sky's the limit.”

Hopes for the project were bolstered after the Big 12 weathered recent conference realignment wars and secured a lucrative television contract.

“So we challenged ourselves to say, ‘Let's not wait. How can we capitalize as soon as possible in reinvesting in ourselves?' ISU athletics director Jamie Pollard said last summer.

The $20.6 million addition spans 60,000 square feet and features an expansive weight training center, state-of-the-art medical and rehabilitation areas, along with slick, if not swank offices, locker and meeting rooms.

ISU officials allowed the media to tour the addition Monday.

“We wanted it to be designed with a blue-collar work ethic in mind and that's exactly the finished product we had,” Cyclone coach Paul Rhoads said, “with plenty of wow to go along with it.”

The weight training area in particular met with Wallace's approval.

“I think they've got a rack for every player on this team,” he said. “That tells you a lot.”

One thing it shows: Football strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight's fingerprints are all over it.

“Very involved in the design,” McKnight said. “I asked for a big rectangle. I asked for access to the indoor (practice facility) - a couple feet. I wanted big ceilings. I wanted no pillars in the room. ... We feel pretty happy with what we have.”

Pretty happy?

“Extremely happy,” McKnight added. “I would find (a person) hard pressed to find someone in the country that has something similar to what we have as far as a football-only room. I feel like we are definitely leading with this facility.”

That was the plan - executed to precise specifications.

“It being done that way and it being done right was an eye-to-eye handshake agreement Jamie Pollard and I had when we entered into it,” said Rhoads, who project manager and former Cyclone Ben Bruns noted produced five pages of hand-written suggestions early in the process. “That's the way Jamie and I operate. And that's exactly what got done.”