Walking The Runway: Colleges Embrace Role New Uniforms Can Have On Football Program

Fashion is "front-and-center in football these days," as it is "becoming an important recruiting tool" for college programs, according to Chris Fowler of ESPN. ESPN's Erin Andrews noted fans are "in the midst of a full-on fashion revolution." adidas Dir of Football & Baseball Mark Daniels said, "Uniforms have always been evolving." Nike Creative Dir Todd Van Horne added with today's athletes, how they "look in the mirror, how they feel, helps their performance." Under Armour COO Kip Fulks said uniforms get "people to talk about sports with a different level of enthusiasm and energy." Fulks: "It's helped our marketing." Andrews reported more than one-third "of all FBS schools are changing or altering uniforms this season," and while there is a "financial benefit for the schools and the design companies, the teams are seeing an impact on the field." ESPN.com's Paul Lukas said, "Schools are using the uniforms as a recruiting tool, and so you're basically seeing a design sensibility that's aimed at 17-year-olds, and 17-year-olds, to put it frankly, like shiny objects." Fashion designer Michael Forde commented on some of the designs during a "fashion show" of college football uniforms. Forde said of Notre Dame's alternative uniforms that were worn during their game against the Univ. of Michigan earlier this season, "If this were served to me on a plate I'd say, 'Could you please bring me some seasoning?' Honestly, this is just plain." Forde added the Univ. of Maryland's infamous two-sided uniforms, "They're bringing uniforms in football to a whole another level. Now they're bringing artistry. It's like Jackson Pollack" ("College GameDay," ESPN, 10/15).

PREGAME SURPRISE: YAHOO SPORTS' Graham Watson noted UM coach Brady Hoke as a surprise "placed the throwback jerseys the Wolverines wore against Notre Dame at the beginning of the season in the player's lockers to greet them when they came back inside the locker room after warming up" prior to Saturday's game against Michigan State Univ. Players "originally warmed up in their road jerseys and had no idea Hoke was going to pull the pregame switch." The uniforms were a "compilation of several eras of Michigan football and the shirts underneath the jerseys had 'Victors' on the left bicep and 'Valiant' on the right." The team's white pants "were a throwback to the 1974-75 seasons when the team wore all white on the road" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/15). A Michigan official said that "replica jerseys will be sold." Meanwhile, Michigan State wore their Nike Pro Combat uniforms for the game, and the new jerseys "added bronze and black to the Spartans' traditional home green." The helmet "was bronze with a tapered green stripe with the traditional Spartan head" (DETROIT NEWS, 10/16).