SU football will wear new uniforms this fall

SYRACUSE — The Syracuse University (SU) athletics department on April 16 introduced the new uniforms that the Orange football team will wear beginning this fall.

The school unveiled the uniforms in a ceremony at Destiny USA. SU worked with Nike, its uniform provider, to design the new threads.

The combinations include SU’s familiar navy blue uniform finished by an orange anodized helmet with navy blue embellishments for home games, as described in a news release from the SU athletics department.

The white away jersey and pants feature navy blue stripes and include a white matte-finish helmet. The team’s new alternate, “dark steel” grey uniform with orange stripes will feature a navy blue helmet, as described in the news release.

SU also has the option of mixing and matching the combinations, Scott Shafer, head coach of the football team, said in his remarks during the ceremony.

 “Orange pants are very much in the plans … you’ll see those at a later date,” Matt Park, play-by-play announcer on the Syracuse University-IMG Sports Network, added.

Park served as the event’s master of ceremonies.

The lack of orange in the new uniforms has drawn some criticism.

An article posted that same day on the website of USA Today had the title, “Syracuse’s new football uniforms need more orange.”

Uniform design
“There’s meaning behind everything in this uniform,” Shafer said as he addressed those gathered at Destiny USA.

The uniforms are part of Nike’s Pro Combat design, which incorporates influence from the school’s “quad” buildings in the center of campus, along with the modern gothic architecture seen in downtown New York City and on the Syracuse campus, according to the athletics department news release that was posted on its website on April 16.

The numbers appear taller and narrower, “mimicking the height of New York City’s skyline,” according to the news release.

The numbers also feature a “unique” 44-degree, linear “V” pattern, mirrored on the uniform pant lines and shoulder panels for “unified positioning of the Orange as New York’s College Team,” the news release said.

In working with Nike, Shafer and the football players involved shared their feeling on what they felt the SU football program was about.

“We thought it was about community. We thought it was about tradition and taking the past and moving forward and representing the future,” Shafer said as addressed the gathering at Destiny USA.

Further graphic details on the uniform help reinforce the history of SU football, according to the news release.

On the neck, the uniform displays the number 44 in a military-inspired graphic patch that references the quad and its crossing walkways, the “Legend of 44,” and the team’s annual trip to Fort Drum to train with the military.

The away uniform includes “D.I.S.C.I.P.L.I.N.E” inside the back of the neck, referencing Shafer’s mantra.

“It’s an acronym for our program that our players know,” Shafer said.

The word also pays homage to the team’s military training at Fort Drum, the school said.

The school’s familiar block “S” logo anchors all three helmets.

Each helmet also features the word “CUSE” on the front and “Orange” on the back. The helmet features an outline of New York state on the back side, with the block “S” logo placed to signify the city of Syracuse.

Syracuse opens the 2014 football season against Villanova, which plays in college’s football’s second level (the FCS), on Friday, Aug. 29. To help spur ticket sales for the game, SU and Shafer announced the “Coach Shafer Buyout” plan. For every ticket Orange fans purchase for the Villanova game, Shafer will buy an additional ticket for that fan. The offer includes season tickets already purchased.

SU also has “a couple” of retail kiosks that are open at Destiny USA where fans can purchase tickets, Park said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com