Some long overdue #FashionAnalytics
When the Syracuse Orange take the turf for their third game of the season tonight, they’ll be wearing the same uniforms as in the first two: their traditional blue jerseys with orange helmet and pants.
In past years, you’d have expected to see some variation with their uniforms. Perhaps the orange jerseys with white helmets and pants, as they wore in Week 2 against Western Michigan last year. Maybe the “dress blues”, last sported against Army. Or the all-orange-everything set, which is what SU Athletics apparently wanted the football squad to wear for the Friday Night clash with Stanford.
Coach Fran was not a fan of that idea.
“Nah, we ain’t doing that,” Brown said during his weekly radio show. “Let’s wear the colors that are Syracuse. When you look at (our main uniform), you see it, and that’s Syracuse.”
Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images
It’s a change that a good portion of the fanbase – including some of our regular commenters – are in favor of. Fran has been adamant about recognizing SU’s football history and, in doing so, eliminating the shortcuts and gimmicks that have infiltrated the program throughout the past two decades. This decision is more proof that he’s very invested in the details.
“There are certain things you wear when your away, certain things you wear when you’re home,” Brown said. “We have to learn to win in these uniforms…. We’ve got to stick to tradition. We’ll get upgrades and all that other stuff when we get everything back the way it’s supposed to be.”
Brown of course came from the Georgia Bulldogs, who wore the same home and away configurations for each game over his two seasons there. (Ed. note: Georgia did order all-whites but they were only used in recruiting) Alabama, Texas, Penn State, and other prestigious programs operate the same way… but many more schools instead opt for as many uniform combinations as possible, often at the cost of brand recognition. It’s a trend that is only getting worse as uniform manufacturers churn out minimalist designs.
Fran has also brought back the Quad Walk – a welcome addition that emulates other great team entrances while not feeling like a cheap copy. And while Fran wearing an alum’s jersey on the way into the office was a nice touch back in the Spring, it’s been all business attire for the entire team since – a trend that we should instead be excited to keep watching.
So far, it’s all coming together nicely. The Orange are favorites to move to 3-0 tonight – which would be the inverse of their record wearing the all-orange combo last season. In all likelihood, ‘Cuse fans will see the same getup a fourth time next week when Holy Cross visits an already-sold-out Dome.
Maybe by November the Orange will have earned the privilege of wearing a special set… or maybe they’ll be rolling so well that they don’t want to change anything up. Either way, it’s ok to enjoy the nostalgia tonight as Syracuse celebrates 44 years of calling the Dome home.
You may not be able to call it that for much longer.