Should Boston College Football Switch Up Its Look?
by Brian Favat on Apr 13, 2011 4:04 PM EDT
in Boston College Football
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On Tuesday, Arizona State and Nike went and discarded half a century of uniform history and got themselves a bold new, "Nike-fied" look. The Sun Devils are stealing a page from fellow Pac-12 member Oregon's playbook -- who has seen its number of wardrobe combinations grow exponentially over the past few years. Thanks, of course, in no small part to Papa Knight and Nike. And while Arizona State needs a few more helmet, jersey and pants combinations to catch up to the Ducks, the uniform changes are a stark contrast to its old look. The Sun Devils seem well on their way ...
Not to be outdone, Oklahoma State fans are abuzz with what the Cowboys are about to do. No one knows what exactly new Cowboy uniforms will look like, but Nike also has plans to release a number of different uniforms this season. There will likely be tens, if not hundreds, of combinations of orange, black, white and smoke gray (which will be added to the Cowboys' offerings) on OSU's 2011 football uniforms.
One official says that Oklahoma State plans on becoming "the Oregon of the Midwest."
Now while Arizona State is outfitted by Nike, not Under Armour, it's not hard to imagine a similar football makeover for the Eagles. The two schools even share roughly the same school colors. You could pretty easily put a Philadelphia Eagles-esque wing or a BC logo on those helmets in place of the fork trident and have an idea of what new BC uniforms could look like. I mean, BC's solid gold helmets seem rather ... boring in comparison, no?
With the Under Armour outfitter regime change came a slight twist to the Eagles' look for the last few years of the Reebok campaign. And once they fixed the nameplates on the back of the jerseys after the first game, it really wasn't a massive overhaul of the uniforms from the Rbk days. And I suppose our current uniforms beat the angry chicken days of the early 2000s. I've even heard some fans wanting to go back to the more traditional look, back in the days of Flutie-to-Phelan.
But in order to keep up with the Joneses, I'm not sure recruits would want to play in 1980s BC throwbacks. Recruits eat the "Nike-fication" of college football up, and if Florida State fans are to be believed, Boston College football will need all the help it can get in staving off the Seminoles from winning the Atlantic Division every year for the next 10.
So what do you think? Should BC leave the football uniforms as is, channel their inner Flutie and go back to uniforms from the 1980s, or let Under Armour make BC the "Oregon of the Northeast"?
HT for post idea: The Daily Gopher
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old school all gold helmets at least
for some reason i like to think of BC as a school of tradition rather than progressive thinking… that’s what I liked best about how simple the old uniforms were, i can’t speak for all recruits, but i think there has to be some appeal you can build by projecting yourself as one of the “old guard”… as much as I hate to use this example, I think we’d do better to model ourselves after a Notre Dame image than an Oregon
Respectfully Disagree
I like our maroon stripe running through the helmet. I think it’s more akin to Penn State. Plus, it helps keep us different for ND. I don’t want to hear from ND fans how we’re trying to be them.
by polarbearbrother on Apr 13, 2011 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions
probably true
if we took the stripe out now everyone would think it was to be like ND, which is probably why we shouldn’t do it, even though we didn’t always have that stripe so its not necessarily ripping them off.
My contempt for ND has nothing to do with disliking their jerseys, the very reason we feel a rivalry with them is because they are the closest school to identify with… I would really like a very subtle difference between us (the solid maroon in our jersey vs. there dark navy), but I think the concept behind the jersey’s should be almost the same, the only difference being the colors… there are only so many “traditional” variations you can make on a jersey and we ARE more akin to a school like ND than Penn
by bloomsday16 on Apr 13, 2011 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Agee with bloomsday
I actually can’t believe that this poll is tilted toward getting a new look. BC is tradition. BC isn’t some new fad. I can handle the modest changes from season to season and year to year, but an all out overhaul or even adding the BC logo to the helmet is something that I would steadfastly refuse.
For me, I would almost become less of a BC football fan if the look changed. If they didn’t look like the team I’ve always known then maybe it’s not my team. In college football especially, players turn over so frequently it’s hard to get attached to too many, but the look of the team is the one constant. Change that, and there’s not much left.
I always felt that when the Pats tossed Pat Patriot to the curb and opted for the Flying Elvis that they dumped their history and all those who supported them through the tough years. Forsaking your history for a new fad is just bad. Screw Nike and these new looks.
by chicagofire1871 on Apr 13, 2011 6:48 PM EDT reply actions
I'd go Old School
College football isn’t about gimmicks. It’s not about being flashy. It’s about tradition. Schools are represented by their colors and not the current fashion trend. I think the Nike uniforms are utterly ridiculous, especially new ones like VT and TCU. Who can identify with them? There’s nothing long lasting about them. When you look at what team uniforms are considered classic (Penn State, Michigan, Clemson, Alabama, USC, and [god strike me for this one] Notre Dame), they’re all simple uniforms.
Truth be told, I would rather see our uniforms go remove the Eagle logo from the sleeves, take away the italic numbers, and keep the uniforms clean and crisp, with solid colors nearly all the way through.
Also, I wouldn’t mind see a special ‘gold jersey’ for awesome games. All the major teams have some type of special jersey. I wouldn’t mind having one.
I’m curious for those voting for ‘click clacked’ uniforms…. um why?
by polarbearbrother on Apr 13, 2011 7:18 PM EDT reply actions
Tradition is Great When You Have a Tradition of Winning Championships...
Should Bama get all creative? Notre Dame? Ohio State? USC? No. But, as an Oregon fan (since long before the uni combos, BTW) the ‘gimmicks and flash’ have helped ‘refresh’ Oregon football. The Ducks were miserable for nearly 3 decades. A lot went right. Great coaches who stayed in Eugene. A fan with fat pockets. But just as important for Oregon’s improvement was the ability to distance itself from its sorry past.
I’m also a fan of BC. And I could see a new, fresh look, if coupled with that attitude, bringing a fresh dose of success to BC football.
by ConfofChamps on Apr 24, 2011 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Vote for some change...
This perspective is coming from a current student, so obviously, my decision for change is not based upon seeing the same uniform for 40 or so years….
I absolutely think BC should have one full-on alternate jersey for one game a year, whether it be gold tops, all gold, or throw in some black. I hope this possible new tradition debuts during the Thursday night game against FSU this year.
Also, I really want BC to put their logo on the helmet. Personally, I would want to distinguish BC from Notre Dame a little bit. Even though we have a stripe on top of the helmet, it still looks like Notre Dame’s helmet! Throw on the logo, make our uniforms look a little more interesting!
I do like the traditional looks of Penn St, Michigan, Alabama, and USC, but in my opinion, the difference between these schools and BC are that those schools are known for being traditional football powers and can rock the old school unis. Recruits today do not see the BC uniform and think that we are paying homage to our traditional powerhouse teams. Some change would be nice since, in all honesty, we are not considered a traditional football power even with all the success BC football has had since the 1920s.
I think the desire to appear in a traditional uniform stems from the student and alumni perception that while not being an age old football power, bc is nonetheless a school that values tradition over progress. I don’t mean that being catholic we should offer a restricted course offering or anything, but rather that something of the past is retained as the school moves forward… (when the school hung up the crucifixes in every classroom a couple years ago the media tried to make a story out of it as being potentially backwards, but it really seemed like the sentiment was that it was a nice way to reflect on the origins of the school)… I actually like what schools like oregon are doing, but i think its an image that doesn’t appeal to our fanbase (or perhaps just me), when you talk about a catholic university you are invariably talking about the past
by bloomsday16 on Apr 13, 2011 11:04 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree with what you are saying about BC people’s perspective about BC, linking it with simpler, more traditional-based uniforms. I would still like a logo on the helmets though.
Dude really?
I swear if BC ever does that, I would stop donating. That’s how much I’m opposed to it.
by chicagofire1871 on Apr 15, 2011 4:55 AM EDT up reply actions
I am serious. I find our helmets to be very plain and boring. Most of the people who voted in the poll above want BC to get “click clack’d” out, so I’m assuming this includes some sort of logo on the helmet.
I mean, I’m not going to flip out if BC doesn’t change their helmets, but not donating anymore? you must frickin’ love the current helmets.
Old School, please
Our school colors are maroon and gold…period. There is no black in our school colors, There never was any black and, hopefully, there never will be any black. Teams like VaTech, who end up wearing unis which are more black than their traditional colors look like gangster wannabes.
Lots of black in the unis also look like hell on TV.
Oregon’s innovation is about more than black. They play with textures and graphics. That’s fine for them; but, please not BC.
Sorry, I still haven’t gotten over the darn fools slanting the “BC” logo.
by Leonard E Sienko Jr on Apr 13, 2011 10:14 PM EDT reply actions
I admit FSU’s black jersey for their black out’s look pretty cool. I also like the fact we always beat them when they bust it out.
I also agree about the slanting of BC. It just doesn’t look good, like we’re trying to be modern and cool. The Heights is an old school gothic building. It doesn’t look sleek, modern, or sexy. Make our logo reflect our central building.
by polarbearbrother on Apr 13, 2011 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions
the kind of recruit that picks a school based on amount of uniform color combinations is not exactly “BC material”
by BC Legal Eagle on Apr 13, 2011 11:41 PM EDT reply actions
gold helmets
In 1984, Flutie was 10-2. They had gold helmets. You have to build on tradtion. Mass is 24% Irish. The country is 12% Irish. ND is about `1% Irish. I think that Brian Kelly is the only leprechaun on campus. I went to the St. P Parade in New York for the fourth year in a row. Coughlin is gone. Get rid of the stripe on the helmet!
gold helmets with maroon stripe
In 2007, Matt Ryan was 11-3. They had gold helmets with a maroon stripe …
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
In short: No.
Those new Nike looks that are the trend across the country are terrible. I will be sick to me stomach if I ever see BC come out in jerseys like that.
I am not apposed to any change what so ever, just opposed heaviy to a “Nike like” change.
Sounds like it's all about the helmet
Personally, I like the maroon stripe on the helmet because that’s what BC rocked when I went to school there. I wouldn’t be opposed to a slight change to the helmet … maybe not a full on logo but something different like a small Gasson Tower on the back (ASU kept the Sun Devil logo on the back of its helmets).
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Haha
No. If not the Tower, at least some imagery that ties back to the school. I don’t know … thought it could be cool.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
by Brian Favat on Apr 14, 2011 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions
As for the uniforms ...
As for the uniforms, I think I’m with polarbearbrother’s suggestion of removing the alternate logos and using more solid colors, less piping.
But I’m not sure what the objection is to changing up the uniforms a bit. Our current uniforms barely resemble the Flutie ones (white pants, italic letters, no shoulder stripes), so its not like we’d be spitting in the face of 50 years of tradition if we gave the uniforms a few tweaks. I would be in favor of ditching the italics and the alternate logos, but I also wouldn’t be opposed to other tasteful modifications to the jerseys.
I mean, we did put the angry chicken on the front of the uniforms at one point. Nothing screams tradition like Brian Toal rocking the angry chicken.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Tradition at a cost
In that Oklahoma State link, Arizona State officials project their merchandising revenue to double as a result of the rebranding. That would be nice.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
They’re probably just regurgitating what Nike sold them. Anything new may likely spike sales, but the question in my mind is whether that level is sustained. In 5 years the trend may be below where it is today. Still, across sports, black DOES tend to sell better than any other color, hence why some teams try and capitalize on it, (Detroit Lions black alternates 03-08, Mexico third jersey, Quakes rebranding from blue to black).
If BC just wanted to boost merchandising I can think of one way they could do that without changing their look. How about an in stadium team store where you can actually walk around and feel the products?
by chicagofire1871 on Apr 14, 2011 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions
How about selling real BC football jerseys? Not crappy replicas with the choice of three numbers on the back (12, 22, 94) …
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
by Brian Favat on Apr 14, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Didn't Gene say that UA was fixing this?
Still waiting for these as well
by chicagofire1871 on Apr 15, 2011 4:53 AM EDT up reply actions
Not uniforms
but reading the link to Tomahawk Nation, FSU fans’ expectations are ridiculous.
You've got to wonder...
how they believe they’re so entitled in the ACC? Ten years is quite a long time to have a “lull.” They had a good year this year, but we were one trick play away from beating them. I expect that our defense will trump their offense this year. I’m just hoping we can kick our own offense into the next gear.
by polarbearbrother on Apr 14, 2011 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions
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