Prior to the start of practice for the 2009 season, the Samford football program moved into the Cooney Family Field House. During the 2014 season, the facility was renamed in honor of then head coach Pat Sullivan and is now known as the Sullivan-Cooney Family Field House.
The field house houses a locker room, players' lounge, training room, weight room, equipment room, coaches' offices, meeting rooms and a film room.
The field house, which is 39,400 square feet, cost approximately $8 million dollars, with approximately $3.8 million dollars privately donated.
The Cooney Family Field House was made possible with a lead gift from Birmingham business executive and Samford graduate Gary Cooney, vice chairman of McGriff, Seibels & Williams, Inc., one of the nation's leading insurance brokerage firms.
Cooney said he wanted to honor his parents, the late John and Patricia Cooney, and other family members with the naming.
"Our family has a long history with Samford, and my hope is that these gifts will encourage others to support this great university," Cooney said. "We have great confidence in the leadership of Dr. Westmoreland and our good friend, Coach Pat Sullivan, and we want to help have a positive influence on young student-athletes."
Cooney graduated from Samford in 1974. He was a member of the school's 1971 team that won the NCAA Division II West Region Championship.
