- The key to winning in college football is a good coach and top-notch recruiting. While the Texas Longhorns are hoping Steve Sarkisian is the answer to the former, their locker room is already helping with the latter.
- In 2017, the University of Texas spent $10 million renovating its athletic center, and $7 million went to the football locker room alone. That renovation included new custom-designed lockers that cost about $8,700 each.
- Below, we take a closer look at the locker room and the lockers.
The locker room features a not-so-subtle reminder on the back wall that the University of Texas has helped players join the NFL.
Players 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 silhouette of Bevo, the team mascot, on the ceiling. Can't step on that.
There are signs with the program's "core values," which include "honesty" and "treat women with respect."
Another sign can be changed to show the team's next opponent.
And yet another that has the "Pillars of the Program."
There is also a giant videoboard on the wall that shows 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." — the former Texas coach Tom Herman.
The back-lit doors are also pocket doors that can be hidden.
Each locker costs $8,700 and Herman wanted them to literally glow.
The lockers are stainless steel instead of wood, which allows them to have an anti-bacterial feature and reduces odors.
Each locker has its own 37-inch television on top which is basically just the world's most expensive nameplate.
The "Hook Em" tray slides out for easier access and holds the player's helmet, pads, and gloves.
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 because 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.
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