CougCenter Roundtable: New WSU football uniform edition

When WSU hinted it would be revealing some new uniforms on Wednesday, our eyes and ears perked up. What might they change? What would we want them to change?

So, we decided to chat about it! There’s a lot of speculation early on, but the fun really begins when the uniforms are revealed midway through the conversation.

Step into our Slack chatroom ...

sherwood (aka Kyle Sherwood)

Clearly Nike has been listening and is going to give us uniform numbers that are intelligible to the television viewer.

Lol, jk we're gonna see crimson numerals on crimson jerseys.

goldenthroat (aka Michael Preston)

Good, don't want no GLORY BOYS hogging the spot light anyway

"Wazzu" on one of the uniforms' chest plate, please

aaronpolevoi

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I'd love to see the anthracite's gone for good and introduce a black jersey.

pjkendall

gtfoh on black jerseys.

sherwood

this thread just got hostile.

jeffnusser

I'm with PJ. Anthracite is our spin on a dark uniform, and I like that it's not strictly black. We just need to put gray numbers on them so we can actually see the darn things.

bkransford

WHITE NUMBERS

pjkendall

#racist

jeffnusser

One thing I hope they don't change -- and I presume they won't, since the entire athletic department's #branding is built around it -- is the typeface of the numbers. I love that.

pjkendall

Ok that's pretty great.

jeffnusser

just all white and gray?

pjkendall

I like that, but mostly the white numbers.

craigpowers

Would the white numbers look good with other combos?

jeffnusser

See, this is the thing I feel like you can descend into -- it gets harder to mix and match and then you're basically Oregon, which isn't a bad thing, but that's where you end up with this kind of stuff

Totally unique sets that go together. Color me surprised if we're important enough to Nike to have that many unique uniform sets.

bkransford

The crimson jerseys already have white numbers.

pjkendall

That's what I was thinking too. Don't see an issue with white numbers on all of the jerseys.

jeffnusser

It's got to be more than that, though, doesn't it? Trying to think of other modifications they might make. Perhaps a 3D logo on the helmet like baseball?

craigpowers

I want a "Wazzu" where the "Cougars" is at least on an alternate. And "Go Cougs" on the helmet, instead of WSU. But mostly, just put Wazzu somewhere.

jeffnusser

I'm completely down with this. Wazzu used to be in that front part on the helmets, didn't it?

craigpowers

Yeah, that would be cool too. Last two WSU presidents weren't fans of Wazzu. Not sure where Schulz stands.

jeffnusser

In that vein, I would love for the Cougars script to be featured somehow.

bkransford

Wazzu.

pjkendall

River Cracraft isn't coming back, no matter how many times you post this pic, Britton.

craigpowers

Can we have him for like two games? Partial medical hardship waiver?

jeffnusser

One thing I'd be pretty surprised by: If the uniforms turned out to be bold or groundbreaking. With apologies to the Alex Brink Space Pajamas, we've tended toward very conservative with our look over the years.

Based on what I've seen above, it seems like most of you are wanting conservative tweaks. Is anyone hoping for something radically different?

craigpowers

I don't even know what radically different would be

pjkendall

I think the 2011 re-do was as "radical" as we're going to see. I'm mostly fine with what they currently wear.

jeffnusser

I just mean something that's a totally different look. Helmet logo, shoulder stripes, leg stripes, etc ... all are standard-ish in our uniform. I'd love for Nike to come up with something unique. Something that's like, "WHOA -- that's different! :fire emoji: " rather than, "Yeah, OK ... that's a neat tweak and I like it."

And I do realize that's unlikely, as Moos seems to think we're a "traditional" program that should have uniforms that are in that middle ground between "very standard" and "kinda newish.”

Here's what I was driving at:

bkransford

Script helmet!

jeffnusser

I doubt we'd move away from the Coug head logo because Moos sees it as our identifying mark (which I'm 100% on board with), but I'd love an alternate like this, for sure.

bkransford

plz don't be real

jeffnusser

omg — all this conversation, and they just went crimson and white and removed the shoulder stripes. That's the big reveal. :laugh/cry emoji:

craigpowers

So they just took off the shoulder markings?

jeffnusser

lol. It's just 100% crimson and white

craigpowers

All crimson is my least favorite of all our combos, I think

jeffnusser

#ketchup

bkransford

those are 2006 ugly

craigpowers

wtf is this, cougs

zane_rm

I want WASHINGTON STATE in big font across the front, none of this minimalist crap.

craigpowers

So we are going with the BAMA look

bkransford

first thing i thought, too

jeffnusser

WHERE IS THE GRAY

craigpowers

I like it a lot more when it isn't all crimson

bkransford

samesies

jeffnusser

The numbers are a lot bigger

sherwood

The front numbers are huge. I love it.

jeffnusser

And just as I predicted, it's a small tweak where people are like "yeah, ok, that's cool" and nothing more. God we are so damn boring.

sherwood

I love them

craigpowers

Just as long as we use the all crimson sparingly I think these are an upgrade overall.

jeffnusser

our uniforms now have zero gray on them.

craigpowers

Not the first time, right? I'm guessing there is a gray variant coming. You know they went this way because the icy whites combo got the best reception of anything the past couple years.

sherwood

I hated the number outlines. I am thrilled they're gone.

craigpowers

I think these will look way better on TV.

sherwood

Agreed. No more "what number made that hit?"

bkransford

They'll for sure pop

pjkendall

It all plays in to the kick times, guys. Win the night for Crimson and White!

bkransford

Tavares agrees that the all crimson is an awful look.

craigpowers

I still want Wazzu somewhere.

jeffnusser

I obviously had my doubts - they've doubled down on the logo, which is right in line with Moos' M.O.

pjkendall

Ketchup always has a white cap.

bkransford

The reusable ketchup bottles don't.

jeffnusser

I agree that the numbers without the outline are an improvement. I'd have loved to have seen something else distinctive about the combo -- right now, as someone mentioned, we're basically Bama with a funny font.

craigpowers

Yes the grays, I really dig those.

bkransford

YES YES YES YES YES YES

craigpowers

That helmet is badass.

jeffnusser

Those are FANTASTIC.

craigpowers

Grays are the new icy whites. Wear them every game, please. I want to buy that gray jersey right now. Take my moneys.

sherwood

Is there a cool gray coming too?

craigpowers

Sorry..."anthracite"

pjkendall

The grays rule. All crimson is not ketchup. This isn't arguable, Britton. But seriously grays all the time.

jeffnusser

So, here's what I see: Because every part of the uniform is two-tone with white being consistent across all of them, this allows them to mix and match in a much cleaner way. If that was the goal, this will be a big improvement on that front

sherwood

right now there are 27 uniform combinations. And you can see the numbers now. This is win/win/win/win/win.

jeffnusser

Yep - now you start seeing how the combos mix.

goldenthroat

OH GOD I NEED IT

craigpowers

YES THOSE ONES YES. The white numbers pop.

pjkendall

MAKE UP YOUR MIND CRAIG

bkransford

THEY KEEP GETTING BETTER

jeffnusser

Removing the trim from the numbers and shoulders makes a pretty massive difference when mixing and matching

craigpowers

Smart starting with the all crimson. They knew those ones were the worst.

jeffnusser

#ketchup

sherwood

these uniforms are perfect. don't @ me.

ACTUALLY @ ME. I CAN HANDLE IT

The only combo I don't like so far is crimson/crimson/crimson but only because that combo has always and will always be terrible

craigpowers

That's why we wear it for the Apple Cup, because that game is terrible anyway. No reason to ruin one of your good uni combos

pjkendall

I think they're great and I am definitely not someone who puts much stock into uniform talk. Hard to be upset.

jeffnusser

Reminder: That is not actually classic.

craigpowers

Regular gray is cool but NEVER AGAIN BURN THAT COMBO

sherwood

ok, so cool gray helmet and pants, we're up to 48 combos

jeffnusser

Side note: How did they succeed in getting a picture that makes Falk look so terrible

bkransford

Will the real Tom Brady plz stand up

Brady sleeves!

craigpowers

He was probably pissed they made him wear the combo in which he has played his worst

WHY ARE THE SLEEVES SO BAGGY?

jeffnusser

At least they didn't make him wear the white/crimson/white

sherwood

He doesn't remember wearing that. It's ok.

craigpowers

Gray-anthracite-gray might look cool as well. Wonder if they'll do that, or if the "classic" is the last reveal

sherwood

do we have a cool gray jersey?

craigpowers

Guess not?

About every six minutes was their reveal cadence, and it's been 9 since the 'classic'.

bkransford

#research

sherwood

Now i want a variant of the white jerseys that has anthracite numbers. Let's just 100% bite the Raiders.

craigpowers

Seems simple enough. Get to sewing, Coug GAs!

brian_anderson

These would be 1000% better if the sleeve numbers were Coug logos on top of the pads instead. Go all-in with the logo of that's gonna be your only brand.

jeffnusser

I’m reading everyone's "practice jersey" comments. I honestly think these are going to look really, really good on TV.

brian_anderson

I do to. Especially if they coordinate the undergarments rather than let dudes choose their own colors to wear.

jeffnusser

See, here's my thought: These only look plain when you're scrutinizing them. When you see them from a distance, you don't notice it. Just looks clean:

WSU Athletics

Reminds me of what I thought when they said they'd go all white, and I was like "oh come on that will be boring" and then it was like NOPE they look amazing. Not making that mistake again!

Looking at old photos - the crimson numbers look different, too. The old ones were kinda shiny. These look flat across the board. Also, I think it would have been cool to do what we did years ago with the script helmet and the logo on the shoulders

brian_anderson

Yep! Always thought we should have a silver helmet script Cougs throwback for the Apple Cup only. Just wear our early 90s throwbacks during that game every time

pjkendall

I am also in favor.

brian_anderson

I wonder if this means Falk is going to be a Big Sleeves Quarterback now. I already know I'll want some sort of accouterments on the pants. Unless that hip logo is real pronounced in person.

jeffnusser

Once upon a time, we had the logo on the hips, didn't we? That would have been a cool alternative to the shoulders - both hips.

goldenthroat

brian_anderson

Belt lines actually make big a difference

pjkendall

Lol those purple helmets

jeffnusser

We should have done that with the logo on the hips. But bigger.

brian_anderson

Agree, put it on the side instead of the front and make it like twice as big as that.

craigpowers

If they are doing this right, then there will be new unis for sale at the Spring Game. (Not holding my breath.)

sherwood

LOL

brian_anderson

@sherwood: I count 256 combos. Four spots; helmet-jersey-pants-underclothes. Four color variants of each; Crimson-Gray-White-Athracite. 4^4. Is that the right way to math that? I forget and am also brain dead a little bit. nCr that on a calculator

sherwood

I did not include underclothes and didn't account for a gray jersey. So I had 4*3*4

brian_anderson

Think the underclothes will be a big part of their versatility

jeffnusser

Yeah, for those people complaining that these are too “plain,” or that “crimson and white aren’t our colors” or whatever, I think the sleeves and socks are where the color splash is going to come from on some of these combos. You see it on the all-anthracite combo with Dotson.

pjkendall

Underclothes count now? I can't keep up

brian_anderson

Other programs have started coordinating it, kind of a recent thing though. Last few years. If we did, it would add just another level. The gray-gray-gray combo would look pretty different with white sleeves/tights/socks/cleats vs crimson. Or any other variation. Sub the anthracite helmet and add anthracite sleeves/tights and it's another totally different look. That's the benefit of being minimal with the Jersey and pant, you can't adjust all the accent colors rather than have them permanently on the uniform.