Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex

The Billy J. Murphy Athletics Complex, the centerpiece of the athletics facilities on the University of Memphis' Park Avenue campus, is used by several of the Tigers athletics programs, but its primary occupant is Memphis Football.

The Murphy Complex has undergone of number of improvements, but nothing like the nearly 100,000-square-foot facelift it has received the past few years. The additions included a 74,000-square-foot indoor practice facility (IPF) and a 25,000-square-foot Murphy Complex extension for offices and other amenities.

The IPF, completed in 2020, gave the program its first full-length indoor football field. In 2022, a 16-foot Samsung videoboard was installed in the IPF, providing capability for instant replay during practice and allows the program to display a wide variety of video and audio content.

In 2021, the facility completed a $1 million enhancement. The football weight room was elevated to one of the best in the nation, while a new outdoor artificial practice field surface was installed by FieldTurf USA, the world leader in artificial turf innovation.

In the renovation of the weight room, aesthetic improvements like custom Tiger branding and graphics, a Memphis colorway flooring featuring a 53-foot state of Tennessee with a 901 logo and unique Memphis bumper plates were made to the area.

Other improvements to the weight room included equipment that was custom built for Memphis by Sorinex:

• 14 custom weight racks with Memphis football branding
• 30-yard turf training area
• 12 Memphis-branded cable stacks
• 14 new power bars, along with 14 rackable trap bars
• Three sets of UCS plyometric boxes
• Seven Frankenhyper machines

The brand-new artificial field replacement at the Murphy Athletic Complex will give the Tigers a state-of-the-art outdoor field turf for practice. The field is made of Vertex Prime, which is a three-layer synthetic turf system that provides student-athletes with improved safety and performance.

The outdoor field features a 40-foot Memphis logo and the surface matches the synthetic turf installed at the indoor practice facility, which opened in the spring of 2020.

The Hedgepeth Family Nutrition Center, opened in the football strength and conditioning wing of the Murphy Complex in the spring of 2020. The center is part of an overall athletics initiative to improve nutrition by providing pre- and post-practice nutritional needs for Memphis’ student-athletes. The athletics department also recently hired a dietetics post-doc candidate to oversee the department’s overall nutritional program.

Ground was broken for the IPF in April 2016, and the second phase construction began in the fall of 2018. The IPF extends south behind the Murphy Complex’s main entrance, which is at the east side of the facility.

The construction’s first phase developed a two-story “connector” between the Murphy Complex’s main lobby and the IPF. The first-floor additions included a new training table and an expanded athletic training area for the players. The second floor is where the new coaches’ offices and recruiting room reside. The two-story extension has windows that allows coaches and players to look into the IPF. An observation deck runs along coaches’ office suite and can be utilized inside the IPF.

The addition of the coaches’ suite at the Murphy Complex moved the coaching staff from the Athletic Office Building, located on the University’s main campus, to the facility on a full-time basis. The football coaches made their move in the summer of 2019.

The “jewel” from the first phase was football’s new athletic training room. The area features an isokinetic machine, anti-gravity treadmill and large hot and cold tubs. The room also has treatment tables, custom-designed taping tables, recovery tables and a physician's exam room, allowing the athletic training staff to be more proactive in its care.

The new football athletic training room also is a huge positive for Memphis’ Olympic programs using the Murphy Complex. Football’s previous athletic training room was renovated and is now used only by the Olympic sports programs. The area is a fully-equipped athletic training room for the Tigers Olympic sports and houses everything – including an in-ground aquatic pool for rehabilitation – to make sure all student-athletes receive the best care possible.

Also, upgrades to the coaches’ locker rooms, located next to the new athletic training room, came in the construction’s first phase.

Prior to the current improvements, the amenities the football team enjoys at the complex underwent major renovations in the spring and summer of 2012.

The complex's foyer area highlights the history of the Tigers football program with bowl game banners, retired jerseys and an NFL wall that lists Memphis players who have made it to the "next level." Off the foyer is a re-designed team meeting room.

Down the hall from the lobby is the Tigers locker room which received a major makeover with a special assist from a former football standout. Thanks to a gracious financial gift from Tigers All-America and NFL All-Pro running back DeAngelo Williams in the fall of 2011, the locker room renovations included new players lockers, several 27-inch flat-screen televisions suspended from the ceiling and a lounge area that has a 4-in-1 screen television.

Also situated on the back side of the Murphy Complex is a state-of-the-art weight room facility that spans 13,000 square feet and overlooks the program’s three outdoor practice fields. The weight room, which opened in February 2011, is used only by the Tigers football program and houses top-of-the-line equipment. The $3 million addition to the Murphy Complex was made possible through private donations.

Other football amenities at the Murphy Complex include steam and sauna rooms and an equipment room.

The complex also features an indoor turf room – where football once held practices if forced inside by bad weather – that now can be used by Olympic sports programs. The turf field is 50 yards and provides ample room for team practices. Just off the turf room is a weight room that is utilized by several Olympic sports teams.

The Murphy Complex, which opened in 1970, is named after former Memphis football head coach Billy J. Murphy. The athletics complex is situated on 140 acres and located on Getwell Avenue, which is south of the University's main campus. In addition to being the Tigers football home, the Memphis baseball, golf (men’s/women’s), soccer (men’s/women’s), softball, track and field/cross country (men’s/women’s) and volleyball programs also use the facility.