LEADING OFF

SI.COM

For more photos and a video tour of Oregon's state-of-the-art facilities, go to SI.com/cfb

THIRTEEN PHOTOS

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN W. MCDONOUGH/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Ducks' Den BY IAN THOMSEN Chip Kelly has moved on to coach the NFL's Eagles, but Oregon made clear its intention to remain in national-title contention with the opening this week of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex. Donated by Nike co-founder and chairman Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, the 145,000-square-foot facility represents the most lavish maneuver yet in the competition to recruit and develop talent. One of the nation's largest weight rooms (25,000 square feet) is built on a floor of Brazilian

ipe

(EE-pay), among the world's densest hardwoods. The project's design team of ZGF Architects LLP, Firm 151 and Hoffman Construction set out with one very clear goal in mind: Create a spacious locker room that doesn't

smell

like a locker room. The seamless white floor is made from Mondo, carpet tiles and Carrara marble from Italy, a combination that retains no odors. Each fully ventilated locker is 44 inches wide and bears a laser-engraved nameplate of its user. After freshman lineman Cameron Hunt keys in his private code (inset) to open the doors, he can pull his mounted helmet and shoulder pads toward him on a spring-loaded shelf, like Bruce Wayne grabbing his gear in the Batcave. Kelly insisted on a flowing layout in which every space has been designed to assist and inspire, including (clockwise from upper left) the players' lounge (complete with outdoor terrace); showers appointed with Carrara marble; the coaching staff's hydrotherapy spa; the neon-bright cafeteria (to instill a hunger for victory in all of Oregon's student-athletes); three outdoor practice fields; a locker room barber shop with an O-monogrammed headrest (inset) and Italian furniture; the office of new coach Mark Helfrich; and the large ornamental flock on the sixth floor in which each glass duck represents one of the 198 Oregon players drafted into the NFL.