We'll be brining our teenage son and possibly one of his friends to Tampa to a football training facility this summer in July.  The facility is in the 13300 block of Hillsborough Ave.  Map Quest shows major cross streets near by of Racetrack Rd. and Countryway Blvd.  How is the area for nearby hotels, safety, traffic, etc.?  

Are there any nice resorts/hotels to stay at nearby?  Probably looking for something around $200/250 per night.  We would like something with nice pools/cabanas.  How is the Hard Rock Casino?

The training will be during the day M-F, so were looking for things to do in the evening and possibly on a weekend day on either end of our trip.  We would like to stay reasonably close during the day and wouldn't mind a little bit of traveling on the weekend.  In your recommendation, remember I'm from Idaho, so my primary activity in Florida will be to sweat in the heat and humidity.

The Hardrock is nice but I do not know how teen friendly it would be due to the casino but they have a great pool.   There is nothing out by there to keep in mind.

Busch Gardens on the weekend day could be good for you but it will be hot.

Go down to Ybor City on one of the nights had have dinner at The Columbia restaurant, the oldest restaurant in Florida. A bit of a tourist vibe but cool. In the Evening, and I repeat Evening there are some cool things to see on 7th Ave In Ybor City by the restaurant.  

https://www.columbiarestaurant.com/

The sponge docks in Tarpon Springs have some good Greek restaurants. Take the ferry from Honeymoon SP out to Caladesi Island State Park.

Clearwater beach
Do a fishing charter
Catch a Rays game
Rent kayaks at the Dunedin causeway

The area you’re in is pretty safe at racetrack and countryway. East of there near USF it can get shady.

All good suggestions except the Ray's. As a die hard Indians fan since I was 9 years old, the MLB needs to suffer after this latest virtue signalling moving of the All Star game from Atlanta over voter laws.

I have not watched a game this year which just sucks because it was an almost nightly bonding experience with my 9 year old for the last few years since he started playing baseball

The beach areas will be the prime attractions but they will be packed and traffic will be horrible. An hour or two away is Siesta Key Beach, well worth the visit. Tarpon Springs is good too. Ybor city can be interesting. I enjoyed visiting the Liberty Ship down by the cruise docks. Lots of places really just gotta remember traffic is beyond screwed up since those damn yankees and snow mexicans have delayed their northward migrations.
ETA, for kayaking my favorite place is Weedon Island and fishing is good pretty much everywhere. Myakka is great for 'gator watching.