The new football locker room at the Nutter Training Center is nearly complete and was open to the media Wednesday. The new area replaces the locker room that was part of the original 1987 construction of the Nutter Center. The total number of individual player lockers has been reduced from 156 to 130, enabling each new locker to be larger. The new lockers are made of oak, measuring 42 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and more than seven feet high.

The lockers will be more functional than the previous set, featuring an electrical outlet, a padded seating bench, and more storage space than the previous units. The room has a new layout, which will make it easier to locate individuals and communicate with the entire team at one time. In addition, the room will have televisions which also can be used as message centers to distribute announcements to the players. New shower and bathroom facilities also have been installed.

The new locker room costs approximately $590,000. UK used its profit from the Music City Bowl, along with private donations, to fund the project. The new space is part of the continuing effort to keep Kentucky at the top of football facilities.

Head Coach Rich Brooks

On the new locker room?

?It?s a heck of a way to start out the season, with what these players have gone through, particularly this senior class. I?m just sorry that last year?s senior class wasn?t able to be housed in this revamped locker room. We obviously have more storage which is more usable for our equipment. It?s just more functional as well as attractive. (Equipment manager) Tom Kalinowski is probably the happiest guy around here right now.

?This is a first class facility. This will help us move forward with this program.?

On what kind of recruiting tool the locker room will be?

?It?s going to go a long way in helping us keep our program on the upward swing. This is the first phase of three very significant improvements we want to make. Hopefully, within the next month or so we will start construction on the meeting room. Also we hope to put the new turf in the indoor facility by next season. It?ll be a friendlier field-type surface rather than the astro-turf.?

On if this builds team morale ?

?I think they certainly have to feel good about having things fixed up for them. I really think for what they do for this program, for what they have done particularly last year, this is in some sense a reward for them as they continue to guide our program upward.

“It?s also a better experience to come into a nice, open, well-equipped locker room, having the space and not being jammed against the guy next to him. This is just a much better feeling walking into this room than the old one. The old one was great, but it was 20 years old.?

On improving from a good facility to a great facility?

?I think it is extremely important to move forward with this program. The facilities were good. We certainly had a nice space here. But, now we are in the 21st century with lockers and now we want to follow up with the meeting room. And then the other thing would be to get the indoor turf replaced with the field turf rather than with the old astro-turf.?

On how this compares to an NFL facility?

?It?s interesting because the NFL locker room started to make transitions in the early to mid-90s, because before that they weren?t even as good as college locker rooms. I was in that league in the 70s, so I know where I speak from. Now, this locker room, with the space that we have, is as good as any in college football.?

#19 Keenan Burton, WR

On the University?s support of the football program after state-of-the-art renovations to its facilities?

?It just shows the care and the pride the University has in its football program. It shows that no matter what, they?ll always support us regardless.?

On what that support means to a player?

?It means a lot because of the hard work you put on the field and all the work that goes on behind the scenes. So, if they are doing all that for us it just makes you want to work harder. You want to work harder on the field, but it?s a chance for us to reap the benefits off of it.?

On the support changing a player?s morale?

?I think so only because you know that if you?re successful, than there?s only more good things to come.?

On his impressions of the new locker room?

?It?s definitely a world of difference. I?m looking at the Tennessee Titans locker room (while at the Music City Bowl) and ours is just like that. We have a professional, state-of-the-art locker room, and that means a lot. Everybody has aspirations to play at that next level, but here it feels like you?re already there.?

On the improvement of the facilities since he first got there?

?It?s like night and day. We had great facilities before but now they even stepped up even better.?

#16 Wesley Woodyard, LB

On the new locker room?

?It looks first class in here, so you know first-class facilities hopefully will produce a first-class team. This is what it?s about.?

On summer workouts?

?First, we come in the morning run and afternoon we just work out, so you?ve got a lot of guys just hanging around, having fun, and that?s what it?s all about. In the past it wasn?t like that as much, but now we?ve got an almost family atmosphere going on right here.?

On how much the new locker room will help out with recruiting?

?Oh man, this is a big part. I know when I came in, I liked the old locker room, but if you?ve got a good facility, especially a good football locker room, it helps with the recruiting coming in.?

On the University?s support changing a player?s morale?

?Without a doubt. Once you see something like this it really makes you want to continue to go out there and work hard, because this makes you feel like you?ve accomplished something.?

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