Yesterday Louisville and Adidas pulled back on the curtain on some brand new football uniforms to be used during the 2015 college football season, and my oh my are they ever, uh, interesting.
The uniform unveiled is called Louisville’s Uncaged Cardinal Primekit strategy football uniform. In other words, it is Louisville’s alternate uniform. The helmet’s biggest feature is replacing the familiar Louisville cardinal logo with a high definition picture of an actual cardinal on the one side opposite an old English-style “L.” From the official press release description;“Drawing inspiration from the Louisville mascot, the new uniform brings the Cardinal to life like never before -- from head to toe -- with an all-new, photo-real, high-def Uncaged Cardinal. Designed to represent the football team’s style of play, the Uncaged Cardinal is fierce, attacking and always on the offensive.
At the center of the design, the helmet features the new Uncaged Cardinal on one side, while a chrome and red English “L” pays homage to Louisville’s heritage on the other side. Further infusing the new theme, the shoulders of the jersey feature chrome and red wings -- symbolizing the Uncaged Cardinal in flight, which accent the chrome lettering and numbering outlined in bold red on the jersey, while the pants showcase a chrome and red English “L” on the left leg to match the helmet.”
Let’s let the images start to do the talking...
Soar Higher. Score Faster. Another look at @UofLFootball‘s #UNCAGED uniform. #L1C4 #teamadidas pic.twitter.com/rkRMmxpa6T
— adidas Football US (@adidasFballUS) June 25, 2015
The rest of the uniform is actually not too bad, I must say, although I personally would like to see a bit more red in the numbers instead of black. But it works, because cardinals also feature some black in their feathers. The fancy “L” on one side is also a nice look for Louisville. The high def cardinal is the biggest sin in the uniform design, and let’s hope more teams do not start emulating that look.
Bobby Petrino is not one to shy away from suiting his team up in alternate looks, which is a big change in philosophy from the Charlie Strong regime. Remember last year Louisville opened the 2014 season wearing an all-black alternate uniform for its ACC debut against Miami. Alternate uniforms are a nice little recruiting tool, and one Petrino will continue to take advantage of.