The University of Florida athletic department invited local media to tour the newly opened, $85 million James W. Heavener Football Training Center on Monday afternoon, and there was much to behold, from the Gator Head logo adorning the floor of the lobby, the video board featuring everyone from current coach Billy Napier to recently retired voice Mick Hubert, the barbershop and the resort-style pool.

Those aspects of the facility, however, don't crack the top-5 most impressive areas within the training center, nor do they speak to the enormity of the investment that is Florida football's new home. It's been in the works for more than six years – and was a dream for much longer – so to see it finally open feels worthy of a celebration for the program's supporters, and certainly those directly involved in its construction.

Once inside the facility, the real bells and whistles were on display, and Swamp247 has listed five aspects of the Heavener Football Training Center that impressed the most from Monday's tour.

Hear me out before writing this off as trivial: do you know how difficult it is to find an open court at Southwest Rec at this time of the year? Let alone anywhere else worth playing at in Gainesville, where courts are few and far between? It's nearly impossible to get one when it's not the summer semesters at UF.

I'm sure it's also a change of pace from the football grind. It's also in the direct vicinity of the resort-style pool, and there were patio chairs and a table just outside of the court for spectators to watch any must-see 1-vs-1 games between players.

Going from the basketball court to jumping in the pool sounds desirable, especially given the near-constant heat and humidity for most of the year in Gainesville, and it has the potential to be a popular amenity for student-athletes looking to escape the Florida elements. The office of Florida head coach Billy Napier overlooks both the basketball court and the nearby practice fields, which should prevent games from getting competitive to a potentially detrimental level – or, who knows, maybe it'll push players to compete even harder.

Only time will tell. Of the items on this list, it's the lone one that could lead to injury rather than help avoid it, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless. 

Once inside the facility, it's clear just how well-crafted everything is, from the indoor decor to the graphics aligning the walls. But those won't necessarily affect Florida's play on the field. The recovery room, however, surely will. The hydrotherapy room featured a full-length cold pool and two cold tubs for players to recover in after practice. In each cold tub was a pair of underwater treadmills. One of them had visible suds, as if they'd been used recently, a possible sign the advantages of the center are being utilized.

Visible in the main room outside of the pool area were three rooms – a float tank room, a sauna and a steam room. It looked as if maybe 6-8 players could fit into each room at a time. It was an impressive aspect of the facility and would look state-of-the-art in any professional athletic organization, from the interior to the design elements.

Through the glass walls farthest from the entrance to the wet room is Florida's training center for injury recovery and to provide massage therapy. Florida plans to add several TVs inside the hydrotherapy room, which should increase the incentive for players bold enough to take a dip in the rejuvenating waters of cold pool. 

Swamp247 will have additional coverage of the dining hall within the Heavener Football Training Center, which is for all 524 UF student-athletes to use. Previously, only half of Florida's student-athletes, anywhere from 250 to 300 at most, were on a full-time meal plan during their time at Florida, which isn't anything out of the usual.

Now, however, every player, regardless of whether they're on scholarship or are a walk-on, will receive three meals a day, 5 times a week. It wasn't even a decade ago that programs weren't able to provide athletes with three meals a day, let alone unlimited snacks or a consistent nutrition-focused set-up for athletes to grab at their convenience. With a staff of 10 full-time maintenance workers and surely many more working around the clock to make the facility happen, the dining hall stood out immediately due to its location next to the main lobby and its potential to elevate the player experience for all of UF's varsity sports. There were tables up the stairs and on the second level, in addition to what appeared to be high-top seating for roughly 80-100 people at a time on the first level. It'll open to student-athletes for the first time Wednesday, and it undoubtedly has the potential to be the busiest aspect of the facility. 

In what feels like a room straight out of the distant future but in reality is becoming a much more common aspect of the recovery process, Florida has a pair of cryotherapy recovery chambers down the hall from the wet room. The belief is cryotherapy may aid the healing process of athletic injuries, in addition to helping with muscle pain or joint disorders. It may also support the weight-loss process, in addition to several other benefits. What appeared to be frost could be seen on the floor of the first unit, and media was informed the first chamber reached -67 degrees Fahrenheit and the second as low as -167 degrees. Talk about a brief yet noticeable escape from the outdoors. 

It's a well-regulated process and done in extremely short spurts, but one that can be harmful, if not fatal, if not performed correctly. It's rare, but some athletes have unfortunately found out the hard way, and that's usually when you hear about the cryotherapy process. Now that it will be a relatively common part of the recovery aspect at Florida, it's reasonable to expect we'll start to hear much more often about its benefits for UF's student-athletes. 

Pictures weren't allowed during walkthrough of Florida's locker room, but demonstrations were provided of the many notable elements. For starters, the chairs recline until the person sitting in them is horizontal to the floor. A much better place to nap than the floor, in my opinion. 

They're like the chairs in a movie theater but they go even farther and appear to be even comfier. Along with private storage areas and a personalized photo above each unit to designate whose locker it is, each individual unit is outfitted with Hyperice Normatec 3-leg boots, which run $800 a pair and are designed to help the legs warm up quickly and recover faster by using dynamic air compression. We didn't get to see a demonstration of anyone wearing the boots themselves, but they sound ideal after a leg workout. 

Though it might be due to the fact players moved into the building just over a week ago, the locker room smelled incredibly clean, and I hope it stays that way. The next step after opening an 8-figure facility is to maintain it and avoid future unnecessary costs, and it sounds as if Florida's dedicated to investing the funds needed to do just that. Each individual player's locker unit cost roughly $15,000 to complete, according to UF executive associate athletic director Chip Howard, and there aren't really any others like it. Per UF, the manufacturer designed it specifically for Florida. 

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