CU, Nike Unveil New Football Uniforms
May 01, 2015 | Football
BOULDER — The University of Colorado football program has a proud history that includes a national championship, 26 conference titles, a Heisman trophy winner, and numerous first round draft choices.
Current and former players are quick to recite: “The pride and tradition of the Colorado Buffaloes will not be entrusted to the timid or the weak.” For 20 years, the school has entrusted Nike with providing a bold look that honors CU tradition.
Colorado has one of the more unique mascots in all of intercollegiate athletics, a live buffalo. The buffalo first appeared in 1934 after a contest to select an official school nickname yielded “Buffaloes” as the winning entry (CU teams were previously referred to as the “Silver and Gold”). The name – and the live mascot – stuck. For decades, “Ralphie” has led the team out onto the field with an intense lap around the field. Situated at the foot of the Flatirons (base of the Rocky Mountains), CU's Folsom Field acts as perfect theater for this great processional, as well as the powerhouse style of play that follows.
Head coach Mike MacIntyre, entering his third season in Boulder, recognizes the uniqueness of the pageantry, as well as Buffalo tradition. He leads the team with a singular mantra: “Be uncommon.” Symbolic of that phrase, the Buffaloes' new Nike Football uniform incorporates unique elements of program tradition and Folsom's surroundings with a modern, updated design.
The new uniform design features subtle, yet impactful details, and the team's interchangeable uniform system allows for dozens of combinations with three jerseys, four pants, and four helmet options.
The jersey features an all-new custom number font that stands out with a contrasting layered outline, and both the alternate and away uniform numbers feature a new Flatiron rock-like texture. The neck collar is highlighted by a contrasting stripe reminiscent of buffalo horns. The “CU” logo appears on the right hip of the pant and on the chest of the Nike Hypercool baselayer. Each helmet is covered with a fine metallic paint with satin finish to create a tougher gun-metal look, and topped with a larger version of the team's logo. Additionally, the word “uncommon” embroidered on the back inside collar of the jersey, serves a constant reminder of MacIntyre's motto.
"We want Buffs to be uncommon in everything they do in life," MacIntyre said. "How they treat people, how they do in the classroom, and doing all of the little things right.”
The Buffaloes will integrate a third alternate uniform with a dark steel gray jersey and pants. The neutral, modern dark steel gray color was established as part of the CU Athletic Department color palate in 2007 and now offers an additional modern look to incorporate into their existing uniform wardrobe.
The sleek new alternate jersey includes bold black numbers outlined in a silver and gold reflective material, and is anchored by a gold Nike Pro Hypercool baselayer top. The team's home uniform includes the black jersey with white letters and numbers, gold pants, a gold helmet and gold Nike Pro Hypercool baselayer. The away uniform features a white jersey and pants with contrasting black font, numbers and logos.
This is the first significant uniform change for Colorado since 2010.
Colorado Football Uniform Evolution
Here's a chronological look at the evolution of University of Colorado football uniforms:
1921—A student newspaper editorial decries CU's uniform colors of silver and gold as, “unsatisfactory. Our teams always look poorer than the other conference schools.” CU wears what is tantamount to a gold sweater with black numbers at home and a white with black numerals on the road, as no real changes are made until 1946 (for one game) and then until 1959.
The one game? CU wore navy blue uniforms for a Sept. 28, 1946 game at Texas. The Longhorns won, 76-0, and those uniforms were never seen again.
During this period, number colors often changed, and as uniforms improved, there were naturally several modifications. But the color schemes for home and road remained consistent.
1959—The basic look for the next several decades is born, as CU wears black jerseys for the first time in its history, with white numbers and a gold pant at home; white jerseys with a black number are worn on the road. Over the next 10 seasons, the helmets go through changes from silver to gold and with horns to numbers.
1969—The first appearance of an interlocking CU on gold helmets (replacing player numbers). This particular mark proved to have staying power and would be incorporated into future logo artwork, both for athletics and the university overall. It was a solid block CU, reminiscent of the one that appeared under the logo born in the 1940s.
1979—The numbers at home are enlarged and are now in gold with a white border.
May 28, 1981—Blue officially adopted as the primary uniform color in place of black after a Board of Regents mandate at its January meeting and subsequent follow-up recommendation by a campus committee. Originally suggested to be “the deep blue Colorado of Colorado's sky at 9,000 feet” by then-Regent Jack Anderson, jerseys were officially an “Air Force Blue” though different than the blue the Air Force Academy's sports teams wore. Numerals are silver and outlined in white, and the pant remained gold, but with a blue stripe, for both home and road. Football helmets remained gold but with blue logos. CU's trademark south end zone is painted blue, the first color change since it was created after the track was removed in 1966. CU's coach at the time, Chuck Fairbanks, has been routinely, and falsely, credited for the color switch through the years, which was not overly popular with Buff fans.
1982—The numerals switch from silver to gold, with the trim remaining in white.
1984—The colors are altered slightly, as the blue is enhanced to a darker hue, with the numbers in a yellow-gold, but borderless; complaints rain in from many, as players can't be identified from stands and in black and white photos and game films it appears as if players wore no numbers at all. The pant remained a similar yellow-gold with a blue stripe and white trim. Bill McCartney had the football team twice don black jerseys (against Oklahoma and Nebraska) in a similar way that Notre Dame broke out its green jersey for big games. There actually had been talk about CU doing it first for its 1983 home game against the Fighting Irish.
April 24, 1985—“Black is Back” read the release announcing that athletic director Bill Marolt would allow head coaches of all CU sports teams (then 14 in number) the option of returning to black as the primary jersey color. The pant moves toward a metallic gold with no stripes (though in 1991, the road black pant had a gold stripe). McCartney's throwback efforts the previous season were the impetus for the change; the football jersey had a blue stripe on the arm for the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons before it was dropped altogether in 1988. The Big 8 logo graced one sleeve. The south area behind the end zone with COLORADO is once again painted black (for '85).
December 30, 1985—A standard in basketball, the football jersey has COLORADO emblazoned across the front for the first time for the Freedom Bowl versus Washington. Other than switching to italics in the current machine style font in 1997, it becomes the signature look on the uniform for the next 21 seasons and one that several other schools also replicate.
November 28, 1987—Football wears all black (jersey and pant) for the first time in a 24-7 loss to Nebraska.
1988—Football switches to the black pant for road games. It remains standard for well over a decade, until the 2000 team wears all white for a road game at Southern California.
1996—The first real tweaking of the uniform since the blue stripe came off in 1988 as the font changes for the COLORADO as well as the numerals, with the stripes eliminated from the sleeves. Numbers are white with gold trim at home and black with gold trim on the road. In subsequent years (1997, 1998), some silver is utilized as trim within the numbers, which are a quasi-italic machine font.
September 26, 1998—For the Baylor home game, the Buffaloes don a sort of “throw-back” jersey that is gold in color with black numbers (with silver trim), along with black helmets (silver logo) and a black pant. It's the only time any of the components of the look (other than the pant) are used.
November 1, 2003—Against Texas Tech, the Buffs don gold pants for a road game for the first time since 1987; the team proceeds to wear all three selections (black, white, gold) through 2006, though white disappeared following 2005.
September 18, 2004—A one-time look, thankfully to many, the Buffaloes wear the black jersey but with the white road pant against North Texas. The look is shelved pretty quick and not used again.
June 2, 2007—Silver is reintroduced into the color scheme, as both the jersey and pant are overhauled. The black home jersey has silver numbers and gold trim in a new design never before incorporated in CU's look, while the white road top has black numbers with silver trim and additional gold trim elsewhere. Pant colors are black and gold; the black pant has gold trim, the gold pant silver trim. New fabrics also improve issues from heat management and uniform weight to making it increasingly hard for the opponent to grab various points.
2010—The uniforms revert back to what the Buffaloes wore from the last 1980s well into the 1990s, essentially black jerseys and gold pants with a few alternate colors (e.g. black, white pants) with the font of the uniform number also switching back from the half-italic design.