The key to winning in college football is a good coach and top-notch recruiting. Texas thinks they have the former in new coach Tom Herman, and he has a leg up on the latter thanks to a new locker room.
The University of Texas recently spent $10 million renovating their athletic center and $7 million of that went to the football locker room alone. That renovation included new custom-designed lockers that cost about $8,700 each.
The new bells and whistles will certainly impress any high school recruits who walk through.
Below we take a closer look at the locker room and the lockers.
You enter the locker room by pulling on the Longhorns logo.
A lot of locker rooms have the team logo on the floor. The Longhorns now have a glowing Bevo on the ceiling. Can’t step on that.
There are signs with the program’s “core values,” which includes “treat women with respect.”
Another sign has the team’s next opponent.
And yet another that has the “Pillars of the Program.”
There is a not-so-subtle reminder on the back wall that the University of Texas can help players get to the NFL.
There is also a giant videoboard on the wall that can show games.
Even the bathroom looks like something out of a swanky hotel.
Or maybe a high-end gym.
The shower is immaculate.
But the star of the show is clearly the lockers, which are unlike anything ever seen before in a locker room.
"This shows we have the very best tools in the country. The lockers affect recruiting because the kids we’re recruiting are the same ones that some of the best schools in the nation are recruiting. A scholarship is a scholarship is a scholarship, no matter where you go. It’s about how you differentiate yourself." — Coach Tom Herman
Source: Austin American Statesman
The back-lit doors are also pocket doors that can be hidden.
Each locker costs $8,700 and head coach Tom Herman wanted them to literally glow.
Source: Austin American Statesman
The lockers are stainless steel instead of wood, which allows them to have an anti-bacterial feature and reduces the stink.
Each locker has its own 37-inch television on top which is basically just the world's most expensive nameplate.
The "Hook Em" tray holds the player's helmet, pads, and gloves, and slides out for easier access.
The glove hooks even have the Longhorns logo cut into them.
Underneath the helmet and pads is a custom-made Battle Gear rack with a cooling fan at the top to help dry the helmets.
Behind the pads and helmet is a ventilation system that can be adjusted depending on how sweaty and smelly each player is or how much equipment they are packing into the locker.
The lockers are made by Longhorn Lockers, a company that has also made lockers for other top programs, including Clemson, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, and Stanford.
Clemson's lockers were designed to look like thrones since they had just won the national championship.
Each Texas locker also has its own pin-pad safe.
Inside the safe is an outlet with USB ports.
The drawers are even soft-close proving that they probably thought of everything.
There is more ventilation at the base of the locker. It may still not smell great, but it will probably be the least stinky locker room in the world.
And then there is the foot locker, with even more ventilation.
So, how did the players react when they first saw their new locker room? As you can imagine, they were pretty pumped up, as seen at the 44-second mark of this video.
Now check out the rest of Clemson's swanky new football facility.
Clemson's new $55 million football complex shows how swanky college football facilities have become