Embracing the history of the program

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Bayfieldgopher

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While looking back for a pic of the 1960 throwback uniforms, I came across this post on 10-13-2000 by 2ndDegreeGopher which I have attached. Coach Kill has made a concerted effort to emphasize the past and make it an integral part of his program. He gets it.

Said that, most of the successful BIG programs have maintained a consistent uniform to help maintain their tradition. PSU, OSU, have stayed with their look for years as well as Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska for the most part. Not so with the Gophers, Indiana, NU, MSU, Purdue and the Illini. Especially the Gophers. The same can be said for many other successful programs such as USC, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc.

I hope Coach Kill takes some time to research this and selects the 1960 look going forward. I know there has been many threads devoted to Gopher uni's with a variety of opinions but that look is the one we had during our heydays.

Lets see if Coach Kill can bring back other past gameday traditions, and new ones, to help make Gopher football a better experience.


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"Embracing the history of the program"
Whoever the next coach is, and whether he takes over five weeks from now or five years from now, I hope that he is as committed as Tim Brewster seems to be to learning and preaching the history of the program. I have been attending games regularly and following the program closely for 25 years and, to my recollection, no coach in that time has placed as much importance on recognizing the historical accomplishments of the football program and trying to connect with former players. Perhaps Mason, Wacker and Gutey all maintained personal relationships with Warmath, Bell, Dungy, et al., but I don’t recall hearing about it. There is a proud history to this program. Yes, unfortunately, most of it is ancient history, but it is still our history and I am pleased to celebrate it. I have learned a lot about the program during the last 3 ½-4 years that I didn’t already know and, while the information was always out there somewhere, Brewster’s enthusiasm for that history provided me the motivation to seek it out. I’ll always respect and appreciate that.

[I am not suggesting that this be a hiring requirement for the next coach, nor do I believe that knowledge of the program’s history ensures or even indicates a likelihood success on the field. Indeed, some of the former players I have spoken to share the same, ahem, "skepticism" about the direction of the program that many have expressed in this forum. But the appreciation for the past successes of the football program is something that I hope the next coach and the athletic department try to maintain in some manner. Inclusion of the Hall of Fame at TCF seems like a step in that direction."]

EITJYCQOPLGQEKS.20061204202059.jpg
 

I agree. Those uniforms are really, really sharp. Just a simple, clean, classic look....and I LOVE the white helmets.
 

Our heydays weren't the 1960s, they were the 1930s-40s.

Who knew the old timers would enjoy playing dress-up as much as a 6-year-old girl?

If we can beat WI in tutus, I'll take it.
 


Please go to those unis pictured with a couple of tweaks.

Put a maroon block M on the helmet instead of the numbers. Alabama has the market cornered on helmet numbers and add some sort of shoulder or sleeve stripe of gold trimmed with white. Keep the white helmet with the gray facemask and the white pants with the maroon and gold trim. It is sweet.
 


Howbout this. We don't have a history of 1 set uniform. Never have, even dating back to the 30s-60s where they changed. Why try to implement that practice now? Which one do we pick? Because some people think maroon on white is sharp/classic we go with it? There are other programs who ARE successful that have had uniform/helmet changes over the years (major or minor): Miami, Florida State, Florida, Oregon, Cal, etc.

I personally love the helmet with the block M on it. It's unique (no other college has an M like that), it has been in use for decades now, it's the symbol of our university from our website to the field to the marching band making it on the field. I also like that we have GOLD in use, as in our pants. We are the GOLDEN Gophers. That's why I like the maroon top/gold bottom (alternate gold top maroon bottoms) at home and white on gold for the road.

However, that's MY opinion. As so many have pointed out on this board people like a lot of different looks. Why pick one just because it was used 50 years ago and stick with it? We've never had a history of doing that like PSU, Mich, etc.
 

Rail-

I picked the one because it is the combo I personally like the best. Also, I prefer gold as an accent color as opposed to a main color on the uniforms. Again, just a personal preference. Great points on FSU and Miami, however in Miami's heyday, they only had one uni set. White Pants and Orange jerseys at home and orange pants and white jerseys on the road.

I would like if the Gophers went to more of a classic uniform look and get rid of the jersey piping and odd shaped stripe on the pants. I just like classic and simply as opposed to weird pants stripes, odd piping and jersey panels.
 

I agree, the Block M has been part of our tradition for a long time, and it is distinctive.
 

In 1968 the upgrade to a gold helmet with Maroon and white stripes and a block M is the best helmet. IT LOOKS LIKE A GOPHER. I still like the visiting jersseys like LSU has with gold pants for the road. Straight maroon jersery with either white or gold pants with the traditional stripes down the side. GET IT AND KEEP IT, AND WIN AGAIN!
 



There are some who would cringe at wearing white pants, instead of gold. You can't make everyone happy. Me personally, think our current uniforms aren't that bad, the piping thing is questionable (that's one area I'd go more classic with just a consistent line), but having multiple options doesn't bother me in the least. You can have a staple for each, but I don't see the problem in mixing it up. I thought they wore white/white too often in the Brewster era, but I see they've gone more with the white/maroon combo on the road, and I actually like it better. I also like that they've gone with the black sock look, but that's another personal preference thing.

One thing I think they need to do more often, is have a throwback game each year, where we do sport the classics from the past. The last time we wore them was that NDSU game in '06 if I'm not mistaken. I think we should work throwbacks more into the rotation in the future.
 

I'm a huge fan of those uniforms, but hey whatever they wear I will still cheer
 

I like the Mason era uniforms with the current maroon color. I think they should consider having the football and hockey teams wear the same helmet color and design.
 

Best gameday tradition to instill in the current program I can think of, IMHO, from our championship years is winning.
 



I do like our throwback uniforms that we wore for that NDSU game.

I also really like our current uniforms.

One thing I will give Brewster is that he really got the history of our program out there. Kill has done a good job of following that.
 

re unis; we've had four different home uniforms this year - how about having one, like Michigan and Southern Cal and Alabama. I agree we have the best looking "throw-backs" (the Warmath era). On the road, I'd like to see some gold for the Golden Gophers, as a signature. The road maroon & whites are drab and have no identity.
 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - if there is a combination that gets 18 year olds to want to play here, I'm all for it. But frankly, the throwback '60's uniforms probably aren't them.

Part of the mystique of Oregon is the jersey question. Like them or hate them, they have gotten players to want to play there. Schools that have a tradition like the helmet schools don't need gimmicks to get people to come there. Unfortunately we're not there. And even with that said, look at tOSU and their crazy uniforms with the red helmets. It's all about marketing.
 

I have been volunteering(to no avail) to be head uniform designer for a long time now.

Helmets........same as they are now.
pants............solid gold, no stripes or e z sketch lines
jerseys...........home-same as pic that bayfield posted
....................away-white with maroon numbers
EXTRAS
maroon shoes and socks/leggings
minnestota outline on sleeve/shoulder
For something different I could even see a large M on the front of jersey. Like Michigan had vs ND

Leave the 'outfits' to Oregon and Maryland.
 


If we had kept our uniforms from decades past, that would be one thing. But I think it would look phony to go back to 1960's era uniforms on a permanent basis.
 

This topic -- and enthusiasm for the 1960 uniforms -- comes up a few times per year. So I know I'm in the minority when I say I really don't like those uniforms at all. I remember when they came out wearing them against NDSU a few years ago, I thought they looked like a JV team.

We don't have a traditional look like the blueblood programs ... so the answer is to pull something out of the closet that's 50 years old? Withour history of changing shirts, that uniform has no more weight than what we've worn for the past five years. Mason's uniforms probably had the longest stretch, simply because he coached here longer than anybody in the past 40 years, and it could be argued that those are what we should wear. At least high school students were alive then.

I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to unforms, and I was slow to adapt to the new look in college football. But they're growing on me. I don't like our uniforms at all right now (mostly the piping on the pants), so I look forward to a change. But as long as we don't have a traditional look anyway, I'm for moving to something the kids want to wear.
 

RodentRampage said:
If we had kept our uniforms from decades past, that would be one thing. But I think it would look phony to go back to 1960's era uniforms on a permanent basis.
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I think a team can wear any uniform they like. What you 'kept' or didn't keep has little bearing on anything.
 


DMB123 said:
Um, actually there are probably about 20 programs that wear the same uniforms they wore 20-30 years ago, at least.
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Not true if you consider a helmet to be part of the uniform. Go to The Helmet Project and look at the BCS conference school members. You'll see that around 10 schools meet the criteria and you only get that many if you ignore one off Pro Combat looks like the ones OSU breaks out or minor tweaks to the logos (for example: USC). The group of truly traditional schools uniform wise is actually really small.
 

MNfootballfan said:
I do like our throwback uniforms that we wore for that NDSU game.

I also really like our current uniforms.

One thing I will give Brewster is that he really got the history of our program out there. Kill has done a good job of following that.
Click to expand...

the throwback unis we wore in the 2006 game against "dakota hostile and abusive indian names for mascots" were the 1960's era uni that bayfield is referencing.

the late 50's thru late 1960's home uni with the numbers on the side is the #1 uniform for me. see my avatar for example of it. it is a classic and beautiful look. can't top it. would love to see the gophers go back to it and STICK with it FOREVER.

and have a white jerseyed version for road games. the road uni could be the one where they can wear gold pants for those of you who really don't want gold pants to go away.

GET IT DONE Coach Kill and equipment staff. GET IT DONE! :)
 

This might just be me, but I find the jerseys in the OP to be very ugly.
 

station19 said:
I think a team can wear any uniform they like. What you 'kept' or didn't keep has little bearing on anything.
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I never said that teams couldn't wear whatever uniforms they wanted. The Gophers could go back to 1960's uniforms full time, no one would prevent them. I'm just saying it would look phony to go back to a uniform from over 40 years ago. They they had worn them all along, it would be traditional. But it isn't traditional to revert to uniforms from so long ago. But again, teams can wear whatever uniforms they want.
 


zambam said:
This might just be me, but I find the jerseys in the OP to be very ugly.
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The jerseys are the only part of that uniform that are good. The numbers could be bigger though.
 

GoAUpher said:
Not true if you consider a helmet to be part of the uniform. Go to The Helmet Project and look at the BCS conference school members. You'll see that around 10 schools meet the criteria and you only get that many if you ignore one off Pro Combat looks like the ones OSU breaks out or minor tweaks to the logos (for example: USC). The group of truly traditional schools uniform wise is actually really small.
Click to expand...
Only if you are counting very small and minor changes to the uniforms actual changes. For example, Ohio State has changed the stripes on their jersey sleeves but it is incredibly minor. I consider them to have been wearing the same uni's since the 60's. I just counted over 20 programs in my head that are wearing the same uni's they wore since the 80's, with of course some very minor changes that certainly wouldn't count as an official 'uniform change'.
 

DMB123 said:
Only if you are counting very small and minor changes to the uniforms actual changes. For example, Ohio State has changed the stripes on their jersey sleeves but it is incredibly minor. I consider them to have been wearing the same uni's since the 60's. I just counted over 20 programs in my head that are wearing the same uni's they wore since the 80's, with of course some very minor changes that certainly wouldn't count as an official 'uniform change'.
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Care to list them? Because my count of 10 allowed for the minor changes (or at least what I considered to be minor when I quickly perused them). Getting beyond that meant allowing for more noticeable changes.
 

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