MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Judging from the reaction of the players, Mountaineer football’s new locker room is going to be a big hit for many years to come.

The old locker room these guys were using simply pales in comparison.

There is now approximately 11,125 square feet of total space for the players to utilize, compared to just 5,625 square feet before.

That includes new mud room and recovery areas and expanded player lounge and equipment storage areas. The word the players have most frequently used to describe it is “awesome.”

It is awesome, and it’s reflective of the direction coach Neal Brown is taking West Virginia University’s football program.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot for the players to be really excited about lately, and so much credit goes to the people that made it happen,” Brown said. “Starting with March Westin, the construction firm, those guys worked through a pandemic in a safe manner. They showed a lot of dedication and a lot of pride because there were a lot of true Mountaineers working not only on that locker room, but we still have a players lounge and some other things that are still getting completed.”

“Their lockers are absolutely huge,” Patrick Johnston, director of football operations, added. “They are 42 inches wide with tons of storage space.”

The new lockers include wireless cell phone charging capabilities, a stainless steel shoe and glove display drawer, lockable compartment with internal charging port, stainless steel helmet shelf with a backlit etched acrylic logo panel, backlit individual upper nameplates including player photo, position and hometown, fold down seats with a coat rod for game-day garment hanging and a custom hook for game-day uniform display.

And there’s more … additional storage in the upper cabinet and a lower drawer featuring a custom state outline along with a custom-stitched vinyl cushion seatback, according to locker room architect Marc Clear of S/L/A/M Collaborative.

“The guys love the lockers,” Brown said. “They’re spacious. They’ve got their own chargers, their own plugs, their hometown and their picture up above them and the music and video boards throughout are impressive.”

What’s even more impressive is the fact that enough room was carved out for former Mountaineer players now playing in the NFL who regularly return to campus during the offseason to work out with strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph.

Six lockers will be reserved just for them!

Brown was interacting with some of the NFL players on Twitter Tuesday night after the locker room was first revealed to the team and then posted on social media.

“Come on back, we’ve got a locker for you!” Brown tweeted to some of the former Mountaineer players now in the league.

“The locker room theming was focused on enhancing the openness of the center meeting space, allowing coach Brown to address the entire team, or allow separate addressing of the offensive and defensive units,” Clear explained. “The dark exposed ceilings with suspended clouds and center Flying WV feature give the illusion of a much taller space than the existing structure allowed and enhanced focus of the room to open the center space with an infusion of technology.”

Clear added, “The locker room size increase is significant in itself, but equally significant is the addition of a mud room and cold-plunge pool to the locker suite in order to reinforce and streamline the post-practice sequence. This ensures the players are following cold-plunge protocol for maximum recovery and keeps the locker room maintained and in pristine condition.”

Another eye-opening aspect of the new locker room is the quiet area with anti-gravity chairs and sleep pods that will enable players to catch a quick nap before practice or between classes. 

The equipment room design was geared toward functionality with more space required to deal with the increase in additional uniform and helmet variations, shoes, gloves and casual-wear items, according to Clear.

Additional upgrades include an enhanced nutrition center and a dedicated recovery space that includes light therapy beds, cryotherapy chambers and sensory deprivation tanks.

And when the guys are awake, they can slip right over to the new player lounge area, which will include gaming stations, pop-a-shots, pool tables and ping-pong tables.

Bright Tree Studios, with offices in Pittsburgh and Lexington Park, Maryland, was responsible for the audiovisual aspects of the locker room while Greenville, South Carolina-based Jack Porter Agency did all of the graphics.

The main LED wall features a 16 feet by 7 feet, seamless direct view LED with four additional 4 feet by 7 feet LED walls mounted to the endcaps of each locker room peninsula. All video walls have been covered with special protective coating to help them last longer.

All video content is driven by a video server capable of running limitless windows, sizes and effects on all screens, according to David Vargo of Bright Tree Studios. The capabilities of the technology will allow the staff to create and change video content endlessly for years to come.

The locker room sound system includes 16 pendant ceiling speakers and four 24-inch woofers that are ceiling mounted to provide an impactful audio experience for the players.

Vargo says light control and light shows programmed into the server will allow the audio, video and lighting to work in unison to form a powerful A-V experience for the team and gusts.

“When someone launches a pregame video to hype the players, you’ll know it,” Vargo said. “The audio system is kicked into high gear with the wall-rattling boom of the bass and the crisp high-end sounds of the crowd on highlight game footage. 

“When the main screen is playing a preproduced package while the endcaps are displaying inspirational messages it’s awe-inspiring.”

“This is a big push by our administration to show that we’re all-in on building not only championship teams but a championship program,” Brown said. “We’ve already got so much positive momentum in recruiting with the Big 12 deciding that we are going to move forward with playing football this fall and now the locker room reveal.”

Morgantown-based March Westin did the construction work.