Theoretical Changes to Bobby Dodd Stadium

I was given a great idea for an article while discussing with a friend at the baseball game on Tuesday an article that he had seen over at The Only Colors (SBN's Michigan State affiliate), which was based off of this original article at College & Magnolia (SBN's Auburn affiliate), which is centered around huge renovations that could be coming to Texas A&M's Kyle Field. Got it? Good. Let's discuss.

If we were to make changes to Bobby Dodd Stadium, what would they be? What are your personal preferences? I'll give you mine, but first we'll set a couple of rules.

1) Existing limitations (streets, other buildings) cannot be moved or modified...all construction must be within the confines of everything else currently in place.

2) Imagine that attendance weren't quite the issue it is now. Meaning, we could add and fill another 5,000-7,000 seats -- a substantial amount that wouldn't change the overall size by too much.

Those are our only two rules. From there, I'll start, and let you chime in in the comments.

Knock Down & Redesign the Edge Center

Technically a part of the stadium, I'll allow this within the confines of the rules. The Edge Center is very awkwardly placed in the northeast corner of the stadium, and at times it doesn't make too much sense why we would have our main athletic offices and facilities interwoven with our football seating areas. Not that it's bad to have your athletic facilities centered at the football stadium -- I would just love to see that part of the building redone to look more flush and consistent with the rest of the stadium, is all.

Add a Statue Inside the Stadium

Clemson has Howard's Rock, Florida has their Gator head, Notre Dame has their sign...why can't we have our own iconic piece of luck to touch before games? We're plenty storied enough for that. Dodd has a statue outside already, but could we not get a statue of John Heisman inside the tunnel for the players to touch as they run out? What about a yellow jacket? A Tech helmet? Derrick Moore's sledgehammer? Anything that gives us a little boost and another icon.

Extend Stands to Better Cover Tunnels & Stadium Openings

This wouldn't add a ton of seats, but would make things look a little more cohesive and complete. My issue is mainly with the Western side of the stadium, which has a pretty sizeable gap with the North and South sides that cause it to look goofy. Other parts of the stadium apply too though, where it's visually obvious that the stadium was constructed in phases over the course of a very long time. Add a few thousand seats, link up the seating areas, and give the stadium a much more complete, professional feel.

Honestly, I struggled a bit here with what I would add or change, and I think the reasoning is that we can only do so much given the current confines. Maybe you're more creative than me, though. What would you change about Bobby Dodd given the chance?