In the world of college athletics it seems to be that schools are trying to put out as many variations of college football uniforms as possible, some schools are sticking to tradition. The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel* recently published an article giving appreciation to those schools who have kept with the classics. The schools of mention being Southern California, Penn State, Alabama, Auburn and of course Texas.
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Oregon was unique when it first started rolling out its futuristic looks around the turn of the century. Today, there are so many schools wearing so many wild distortions of their school colors that it only makes the traditionalists stand out more.
Texas AD Chris Del Conte and coach Tom Herman, whose school literally invented the color “burnt orange,” have both made similar comments when asked about alternate uniforms.
“I’m not one to mess with tradition,” Del Conte once tweeted about the subject. “As DKR (longtime Texas coach Darrell K Royal) once said, dance with the one that brung ya.”
With some schools who have gone the way of changing up from the classics, it is necessarily a bad thing. For a school like the University of Texas, I think it is important to keep it classic with their look. Obviously an ongoing debate among a small portion of the fanbase. However, the Texas Longhorns have a classic look. One that is easily recognizable not only in American but across the globe.
Coaches say it’s all about appealing to today’s recruits. But somehow Alabama’s rigid adherence to the same color scheme Joe Namath donned in 1964 has not prevented Nick Saban from signing No. 1 recruiting classes.
While it may be appealing to the youth, these recruits aren’t going to the schools for the different jerseys they could wear on Saturdays. It is about the coach who built that relationship and the prestige of the university they sign their National Letter of Intent to attend.