Hurley W. Rudd Field at Gene Cox Stadium is a municipal American football venue for local teams in Tallahassee, FL. It seats approximately 5,500 fans, but has room to accommodate an additional 1,000 people. Currently, Hurley W. Rudd Field at Gene Cox Stadium serves all nine public middle schools and the five public high schools located in Leon County. It is right next to the North Florida Fair Grounds.
History
The stadium was built in 1969 during a time when the addition of a third local high school called for the construction of a centralized, shared facility. Ultimately, a location bordering the North Florida Fairgrounds on the south side of town was selected for this purpose. Originally called Capital Stadium, the name was changed in 1998 to honor local high school coaching legend Gene Cox shortly after his retirement and, the natural grass field was named in honor of four-term Florida state legislator and former Tallahassee, FL mayor, Hurley W. Rudd Sr..
Football Use
Today, Hurley W. Rudd Field at Gene Cox Stadium is home to all Leon County middle schoolfootball games and most home games for the local public high schools, including: Chiles High School, Godby High School, Leon High School, Lincoln High School, and Rickards High School. Due to the large demand for use of the stadium, all home game scheduling is channeled through Leon County Schools and often results in high school football games being played on Thursdays and Fridays. While it is not uncommon for games to also be played at Chiles High School and Leon High School, all intercity matchups take place at Gene Cox Stadium. The stadium and field is officially a neutral site for all Tallahassee, FL public high schools, with the designated home and away teams in intercity games rotating on a year by year basis. However, the field has been occasionally painted by the county during the postseason to support specific area teams in the playoffs. The FHSAA Girl's Flag Football finals will be held at the stadium in 2012, 2013, 2014. The top eight teams will play a two-day, three game tournament to crown the state champion. The first FHSAA final was at Clearwater High School in Pinellas County. The last eight championships have been played in Boca Raton.
Other Use
In addition to serving Leon County public school football, Hurley W. Rudd Field at Gene Cox Stadium also hosts several other annual events, such as the regional high school marching band Marching Performance Assessment and the spring football combine. In 2006, it was the fall training site for the Tallahassee Titans, an American Indoor Football Association franchise, during the team's only season.
