Kansas football unveils new locker room with barber station & ‘super custom’ recliners

Kansas football coach Lance Leipold believes his program made a statement on Tuesday. The Jayhawks unveiled an upgraded locker room and revamped weight room at the Anderson Football Complex.

Those upgrades include, regarding the locker rooms, a barber station and “super custom” cushioned seats — recliners, actually — with an embroidered headrest at each locker. The locker room is now 8,000 square feet, up from 6,000, and holds an additional 14 lockers (124 total).

The Jayhawks’ 15,000-square-foot weight room has brand-new equipment along with new artificial turf and an updated audio system.

Leipold believes the renovations will be a significant benefit to the current players — and in recruiting future talent to the roster.

“We know this — this program has been behind for quite a while,” Leipold said. “This is another statement. We have more (changes) coming, of course, that are going to show this program from our chancellor to the athletic director and our boosters that we’re in it. We’re not on the sidelines anymore. We’re not hoping about things.

“When recruits and people start walking through there, they are going to see the difference.”

Consider this, then, phase one.

What’s phase two? The “11th and Mississippi Project,” which involves KU’s football stadium and the surrounding area at the intersection of 11th and Mississippi in Lawrence.

That project involves new facilities — potentially including a mix of conference and entertainment space and shops surrounding David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The venue will still hold all of KU’s seven home games in 2023 and onward.

While the larger stadium and intersection renovations are still in the planning stages, KU players will get to enjoy the benefits of the revamped locker room and training facilities right away.

Each revamped locker has plenty of storage space for players, including specific spots for shoulder pads, hooks that dry gloves, extra shoe storage and more room between stalls.

The Jayhawks also added a large-scale video board for team-messaging, watching games and playing hype videos.

Naturally, KU players couldn’t contain their excitement when seeing the upgrades on Tuesday — their voices reached the top floor of the football complex. The coaches didn’t let players see any part of the renovations until Tuesday afternoon.

“We didn’t put their names up and everything because we tried to prevent guys from sneaking in and seeing where they’re at,” Leipold said. “It’s kind of like when you’re a parent and you watch your kids open Christmas presents. The enjoyment — the excitement and fulfillment there — I think that’s kind of the moment ... I probably had.”

On Tuesday, the Jayhawks were in action for the first time ever in the upgraded weight room.

Not only is the strength and conditioning equipment brand-new, but it’s customized for the “pressure training” needs of the team. The room is equipped with 18 platform weight racks — up from the previous 12.

KU football strength coach Matt Gildersleeve thinks the weight-room upgrades will be game-changing for the program.

“The biggest thing with the equipment is just the efficiency of it,” Gildersleeve said. “The space of the actual room didn’t change much, but the layout is totally different from what we’ve had.”

He continued.

“A guy is able to get through his entire lift without ever having to leave his rack. Whereas before, you would have to press here, row over here, row there and go over here and do this core from over there. Now this can all be done at one place. Just from the standpoint of time, it’s our most valuable asset. We got a whole heck of it back by having this facility.”