Notre Dame unveiled its new football locker room on Thursday and it’s a really nice balance of modernization meets tradition. The old school brick from the locker room remains, but Notre Dame has added elements of modernization without sacrificing the old school look and feel that the Notre Dame locker room has always had.
The new locker room is part of the overhaul of Notre Dame Stadium that is near completion as part of the Campus Crossroads Project. It is very apparent that Notre Dame went to great efforts here to make sure that they modernized without going ridiculously overboard like Texas recently did with their futuristic locker room that looks more like a Las Vegas night club than a game day locker room.
The Notre Dame players clearly approve based on their reactions.
That new locker room feeling.#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/We1nGdLwKb
Advertisement— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 10, 2017
Notre Dame has kept a lot of its tradition very present throughout the new stadium, but specifically so with this locker room. The famous “Win One for the Gipper” speech for instance is memorialized in the locker room.
?@NDFootball's new game day locker room may be brand new – but they will still be reminded of their rich history on the walls. pic.twitter.com/Rmc6NyHedG
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) August 10, 2017
Knute Rockne’s famous “we’re gonna go inside ’em, we’re gonna go outside ’em” pep talk is built into the tunnel as well.
"And don't forget, men. Today is the day we're gonna win!"@NDFootball coach Knute Rockne's famous speech is now in the stadium tunnel. pic.twitter.com/J25MzUDFQI
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) August 10, 2017
While keeping the traditional brick look, Notre Dame added some slick design elements such as the iconic interlocking ND on the ceiling to give it a really nice design pop. The design is really a good compromise for the traditionalist fans and the younger fans who probably wish the new locker room more closely resembled Club Longhorn.
?@NDFootball's new game day locker room bridges past tradition & championships with our future success.
We can't wait for September 2nd! pic.twitter.com/Ap0h3P94R2
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) August 10, 2017
Here are a couple more looks at the new locker room.
A new locker room needs new lockers…
Take a deep dive into what is included in @NDFootball's new locker set up at Notre Dame Stadium. pic.twitter.com/6KqGBqTU6X
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) August 10, 2017
If you look closely, there are some modern elements really nicely integrated without being over the top such as charging ports for the players at each locker.
In addition to the new locker room for the players on gameday, Notre Dame has introduced a new recruiting lounge for hosting its official and unofficial visitors each weekend.
Here are a couple tweets of the new recruiting lounge. More word on if there will be video game systems in the event 5-star linebackers from Hawaii visit during snowstorms.
BOOM ?!
Our new Stadium Gameday Recruiting Lounge.#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/b9nwbb3xKI
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 10, 2017
Take a FIRST LOOK at @NDFootball's Schivarelli Lounge (our game day recruiting HQ) entryway.#NDBiggerThanBrick pic.twitter.com/E0hXiKJjMF
— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) August 10, 2017
In some ways Notre Dame is in no win situations with things like this given how many fans are on both ends of the “modernization” spectrum, but overall they did a good job redoing the locker room and the lounge without going over the top.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
A new walk-in closet for all those new costumes…
Has the stink of sweat been banned?
Very Nice
Our masonry restoration company performed the work on the locker room brick removing old sealer and washing down old brick as well as all the new brick on the stadium looks very good from all the trades that performed there share of History
PLACT…really, hundreds of millions of dollars later, there is still a pipe in front of the Play Like A Champion sign?
Just as long as the players got ’nuff room for all their stuff.