The facility will include a turf field, locker rooms, hitting space for baseball and softball, a golf simulator and a weight room. School officials said it is designed to serve the entire student body, not just athletes.

"We have talked about and dreamed about this for over 30 years," Athletic Director Dennis Goodwin said. "This will not just be an athletic facility, but one that will touch every student that walks through our doors. A space not just for athletes, but the marching band, cheerleaders, PE classes, preschool to run off some steam, and special events."

Bargatze, a Middle Tennessee native known for his clean comedy, joked that he likely would not have used the facility as a student.

"I'm excited to have this new athletic facility — one that I probably would have been cut from — all four years," he said. "Yeah, I was cut in the little gym over there… but they can't cut me now — they have to let me play!"

With two facilities now bearing his name, Bargatze reflected on his rise to fame in front of DCA's student body.

"It's truly a blessing," he said. "I don't think anybody here, me included, would think we would be here doing this today when I graduated with the grades I graduated with. But we are. God has a plan. I didn't know, I'm just going with it and doing what is being asked of me, and it's definitely about giving stuff back."

The school hopes to open the Bargatze Indoor Practice Facility in August 2027.