The Univ. of Tennessee football team "will add outlines of the Volunteer State to the backs of its jerseys, both home and away, for the upcoming football season," according to Brice & Hubbs of VOLQUEST.com. The state outline "will sit atop players' names" on jerseys. There also will be "some other changes to at least two of the Vols' uniforms, including what sources have said would be a faint, subtle checkerboard effect on the numbers of the road jerseys." Sources said that UT also will "add their state name to the fronts of their road jerseys, again reinforcing Tennessee's status as the state's public university" (VOLQUEST.com, 7/22).
GUNS UP: In Dallas, Mike Graham reports Lubbock-based retailer Red Raiders Outfitter is "about to receive" its '13 inventory of Texas Tech replica football jerseys from Under Armour, and "has posted drawings of black, white and gray jerseys for fans to preorder." The drawings indicate that a "never before seen gray jersey does exist." A clause in first-year Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury’s contract "gives him the ability to oversee uniform design," and UA "could indeed make changes in time for the 2013 season." The new jerseys "look fairly different from the last major overhaul" in '06, the first of UA's deal with the school (DALLASNEWS.com, 7/20).
PLUCKY DUCKS: ESPN's Max Kellerman said Oregon's new neon yellow football uniforms make the players look like "human glowsticks." He added the uniforms are a "big topic -- period -- on social media," and people "are into the uniforms." ESPN's Marcellus Wiley said uniforms in college football have "become part of the aesthetic, and the old aesthetic was you talk about the practice facilities, you talk about the weight room, you talk about the stadium." Wiley: "These guys are really impressed with what they're wearing and then the swag that comes from that" ("SportsNation," ESPN2, 7/19).
REBEL YELL: SPORTING NEWS' Troy Machir noted Ole Miss DT Herbert Moore last week "posted an Instagram picture of chrome Ole Miss helmets." It is "still unclear if this is just a recruiting tactic or if Ole Miss will actually use the helmets this season." But if they do, the Egg Bowl rivalry game against Mississippi State "would be a perfect time to use them" because MSU "could be donning metallic gold helmets" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/21).
