The University of Minnesota football team will have an all-new look this fall.
Head coach Tim Brewster announced Wednesday that Minnesota’s uniforms have been completely redesigned by NIKE and will feature two jersey colors – maroon and white – that can be paired with three different pant combinations – gold, maroon and white.
It is the first significant change in the Golden Gophers’ uniforms since the 1999 season, when Minnesota began wearing the lighter shade of maroon helmet and jersey trimmed with a solid stripe that it wore until last year.
The revolutionary new uniform concept, made exclusively for the Golden Gophers by NIKE, will incorporate both new and classic looks, resulting in a faster looking, more modern design.
Color may be the most immediately noticeable feature of the new design, as Minnesota returns to its more traditional and darker maroon. Solid color also replaces the bold stripe that previously adorned the jersey’s neck and arm holes, while piping now runs diagonally across each shoulder pad and down the sides of the new jerseys.
The new jerseys also have MINNESOTA emblazoned on the chest, marking the first time the team name has appeared on the jersey since the 1993 campaign.
Design changes in the Gophers’ new pants are subtle, yet significant. The piping theme in the jersey is continued across the back and down the outside of each pant leg before it flares into a wider stripe from the base of the thigh pad down. Minnesota’s previous pants were solid in color, with the exception of a block “M” above the left thigh pad.
Minnesota will also have the option of incorporating white pants into its uniform rotation on a regular basis for the first time since the Murray Warmath era. The Gophers last donned white pants as part of their regular uniform rotation in 1967.
These changes have resulted in the first major overhaul in the Gophers’ football uniform since the 1997 season, when Minnesota switched from the metallic gold helmets and pants and jerseys with the block “M” flanking both shoulders that it wore in 1996 to dark maroon helmets and solid-color jerseys for 1997.
Aside from the different look, several technical innovations have been incorporated into Minnesota’s new uniform, according to NIKE. These include:
Innovative Fit: Minnesota’s new jersey has an updated design and incorporates new performance fabrics, producing a tight, shrink-wrapped fit. This minimizes “grab points” (fabric areas on the jersey that opponents can hang on to).
Weight Reduction: Both the jersey and pants are significantly lighter in weight, resulting in players carrying less weight throughout the game.
Improved Moisture Management: Both jersey and pant are produced with the most technical uniform fabrics by NIKE and thus carrying less weight. This improvement is especially significant in the game pants.
Increased Ventilation: Light weight mesh is added in areas traditionally covered by non-breathable fabrics in the upper back neck and under arms where heat can escape (areas not covered by thick plastic and foam shoulder pads).
Minnesota will make its debut in the new uniforms on Saturday, August 30, when the Gophers kickoff their 2008 campaign in the Metrodome against Northern Illinois.
Courtesy: University of Minnesota
