The future of Dunwoody (GA) High School football is being built by more than just the players on the field.
It's being built by hundreds of community members who have come together to give the Wildcats something they've never had before: a stadium of its own.
Fueled by a donation from Dunwoody alum and television host Ryan Seacrest and a community-wide fundraising effort, Seacrest Stadium is officially set to break ground the week of Nov. 23, following county approval on Nov. 9.
And when it opens next fall, the whole community will be able to call it their own.
“I think we’re all kind of part owners of this,” said Steve Fortenberry, former teacher and president of the Dunwoody High School Community Association. “I think you’re really going to see
that it wasn’t just the county building this and we show up. This is Dunwoody’s stadium. We are kind of the Green Bay Packers of the high schools.”
The project has been years in the making, but it took a collective effort from the community to turn the vision into a reality.
It started with a donation of more than $1 million from Seacrest, who played defensive back for the Wildcats before graduating in 1993.
“For us, it’s about so much more than a field,” Seacrest said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. “It’s about creating a place where kids can dream big, chase those dreams and have the support of their families every step of the way.
“To be part of something that celebrates both the dreams and the people who help make them possible is what makes this moment so special.”
Seacrest’s donation made what once seemed like an unrealistic goal attainable, giving the community a foundation to launch its own fundraising effort: the “Bring It Home Dunwoody” campaign.
In October, the school officially reached its goal of raising an additional $1.5 million. The money, raised by nearly 800 community members, will go towards 2,000 new stadium seats, a press box, restrooms, concessions and other stadium amenities.
“There is something special about our community that you have to be a part of it to really understand how special Wildcat Pride is and what Dunwoody is all about," said Tom Bass, principal of Dunwoody High School.
For years, however, Dunwoody hasn't had a place to call home.
In 2020, Dunwoody added a turf field and 1,000 bleacher seats. But hosting home varsity football games requires a minimum seating capacity of 3,000.
Instead, schools throughout the Dekalb County School District share stadiums, leaving Dunwoody’s football team with roughly a 15-minute drive to play its home games.
“Every game is kind of like a road game for preparing,” said junior tight end Charlie Survilas. “We don’t have the luxury of having our pregame here, playing here – the timing is different, so we have to take the bus to everything.”
As a public school system, the Dekalb County School District has other priorities that take precedence over athletic facilities.
“We have $2 billion of deferred maintenance in the entire system,” said Andrew Ziffer, a Dekalb County School District board member. “So, certain stadium upgrades or sports facility upgrades are always going to be lower priority than roofs, air conditioning, schools, education infrastructure.”
Although Seacrest and his family had expressed interest in being a part of the project for years, the complexities of establishing a public-private partnership with the county stalled progress.
It wasn’t until a community member with a background in real estate development stepped in that the project began to gain traction.
He began to ask questions that hadn’t been asked and develop plans that hadn’t been drawn up. So, when the proposal returned to the county, the project finally had a clear path forward.
“I just saw no reason why this shouldn’t be done,” Ziffer said. “We have a project sponsor who has the expertise to do this, they have a team that is willing to do the fundraising and a team that is willing to go out and create vendor relationships that helps this project be done for less than the project would typically be done for.”
When the stadium is completed ahead of the 2027 football season, Dunwoody will become the only school in Dekalb County with a football stadium of its own.
For Seacrest, the opportunity to give the Wildcats a home field carries a personal meaning.
“When I was a kid, my dad would leave work early to come watch my football practice on this very field,” he said. “Those memories are a big part of why my family and I wanted to be involved in this special project.”
Seacrest’s father, Gary, passed away in October 2025. He played a key role in the early planning of the stadium.
The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2027 football season, giving the Wildcats an opportunity to begin a new chapter at the perfect time.
The Wildcats have put together one of their most successful seasons since 2008, finishing the regular season 8-2 and earning the No. 21 seed in the GHSA Class 6A state playoffs.
Come next fall, the Wildcats could have the chance to host a first-round playoff game on their home field for the first time in program history.
For head coach Matt Schmitz, the possibilities extend well beyond the games themselves.
“You have all these visions of what it could be, traditions you could start, songs, things the band will do, the hard hats, the student section,” Schmitz said. “When you have your own place, you can really make it unique and make it your own, so we have ideas like crazy of how we want to do this.”
Those visions will soon become a reality. For the first time, the Wildcats won't have to borrow a home, they'll have one of their own, built with the help of the entire community.
“Through hard work, commitment and belief in this process, the outcome is about to happen,” Bass said. “We are so excited.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Ryan Seacrest is giving his old high school football team something it never had
