Iowa State Football Uniform Change

[IowaFan26]

The Iowa State Cyclone football team will get getting gold pants for both home and away uniforms for this fall. No pictures available yet, but the spring game is this Saturday, so we will have to see if they break them out then.

Also, big news, AD Jamie Pollard has invited Cyclone fans (and I suppose non-fans as well) to submit there designs for a completely new uniform.

That said, our current uniform set isn't that old, but if change is a comin, then change is a commin' I guess. So if you are interested, you can review this wonderful contract agreement and send your entries to the address enclosed.

http://admin.xosn.com//pdf6/71761.pdf?SPSI...DB_OEM_ID=10700

Note: No compensation for winner and you must use gold pants.

And if you're going to create a concept I'm sure all of us here would love to see it and give you suggestions as well.

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State?s football team will have a new look beginning this fall with the return of gold pants for both its home and road uniforms. First-year coach Gene Chizik wanted a return to ISU?s traditional colors ? cardinal and gold ? on the squad?s game-day uniforms.

?My former boss at Texas, Mack Brown, was an assistant coach at Iowa State (1979-81),? Chizik said. ?In looking back at those teams, I noticed there was a lot more gold in the uniforms. It is one of our school colors, and should be used more prominently in our game-day dress.?

Chizik and Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said the color change for the pants is the first step in the re-design and that the Athletics Department is enlisting the help of Cyclone fans to create concepts for new uniforms.

?It was too late in the production process to make any changes beyond the color of the pants for 2007,? Pollard said.

However, the athletics program anticipates the football team wearing completely new designed uniforms and helmets for the 2008 season.

?It?s quite natural for new coaching eras to coincide with a new look,? Pollard said. ?Developing that new look will include input from many areas, including our students, alums and fans. Building pride for and branding a new era starts with the team?s identity, which is tied to its uniform.?

Chizik met with Pollard this spring to discuss options. Seeking input from the students, alums and fan base, as well as working with the experts from Iowa State?s College of Human Sciences, which works with the campus textiles and clothing department, seemed appropriate.

?We want feedback as we consider what direction we?ll take going forward,? Pollard said. ?We feel the connection with students and faculty ? through the expertise of the College of Human Sciences ? and the fan base provides a great opportunity to tap into some very creative minds.?

?We are honored to be asked to participate in this exciting venture,? said Cheryl Achterberg, Dean of the College of Human Sciences. ?Our faculty experts in functional clothing design and eager to participate in this team project and we have lots of experience to add to the mix.?

The Athletics Department is asking fans to mail their ideas to: Uniform Designs, Athletics Marketing Office, Iowa State University, Jacobson Athletic Building, Ames, Iowa 50010. Designs are due by May 14 and can also be dropped off in person at the Jacobson Building. There is a downloadable (PDF) release form on cyclones.com that must accompany all submissions.

Once concepts are collected, athletics department officials will review suggestions in consultation with their apparel partner, Nike. Later this summer, Iowa State fans will vote for their favorite design in an online poll at cyclones.com. Voting will run through the middle of August. Final decisions for the design will rest with ISU staff, but the voice of Cyclone fans through the online vote, will carry significant weight.

?All options are on the table,? Chizik said. ?Our football team represents the institution, especially the students, our alums and fans. Asking for input from those key constituents seemed like an obvious first step and we?re excited to see some of the ideas that are generated.?

[hecticbro]

I'm undecided here. Either this is a really cool idea or a really cheap move.... But either way it's got its good points.

[Herk]

I really like the idea of going to gold pants. Don't know how those unis will turn out however. Are they planning on keeping the same helmets?

[IowaFan26]

I really like the idea of going to gold pants. Don't know how those unis will turn out however. Are they planning on keeping the same helmets?

I'm anxious to see how they'll turn out as well. As far as I know everything (including helmets) will go in 2008.

[EatSleepJeep]

Great news. I never liked the all-cardinal look. I hope they work in a fair amount of blue trim, as it complements very nicely. As long as they don't go back to the yellow pants that they used in the struttin' chicken days with the yellow helmets we'll all be a-ok.

Great days ahead in the Cyclone State.

[rtrich11]

I don't know how many pro designers will want to do a bunch of work for nada. If they were selected they could turn the exposure into opportunities, but it could be a waste of time if there's paid work to do.

In other notes, I actually like the ISU look. It's a bit KC Chiefs, but looks good on them.

[IowaFan26]

Great news. I never liked the all-cardinal look. I hope they work in a fair amount of blue trim, as it complements very nicely. As long as they don't go back to the yellow pants that they used in the struttin' chicken days with the yellow helmets we'll all be a-ok.

Great days ahead in the Cyclone State.

I wouldn't put money on blue being adding to the scheme, there is a lot of emphasis on Cardinal and Gold here. And the gold pants are in effect this year, so I am thinking your not getting what you want here.

I don't know how many pro designers will want to do a bunch of work for nada. If they were selected they could turn the exposure into opportunities, but it could be a waste of time if there's paid work to do.

In other notes, I actually like the ISU look. It's a bit KC Chiefs, but looks good on them.

I'd say free exposure is better than no exposure.

[EatSleepJeep]

The "gold" from the 80's & 90's was not gold but a bright yellow that was pretty putrid. The yellow helmets were equally bad. Cardinal/gold and white/gold is 10x better than cardinal/cardinal and white/white but I'd like to see the blue as an stripe accent, number lining, piping trim, etc.

[whitedawg22]

I remember something from a Uni Watch column a few months ago about ISU wanting to go with more of a throwback look, possibly including a version of the 1980s hurricane logo.

A pretty weak logo, in my opinion, although pretty much anything's better than a bird coming out of a tornado like they have now. If they spruced it up a little, and got rid of the stupid-looking font, it might have potential.

[Herk]

I wouldn't mind ISU using the cursive cyclones decal they used until 1994, just inverting the colors so the helmet shell is red and the cursive cyclones decal is in yellow.

[yh]

First of all, I'm glad to see gold pants coming back.

Second of all, I hope they continue to use the current Cyclone helmet logo as I think it's one of the best in the game. It wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit to see them darken up the red a bit (like it was up until about 1983) and 86 the metallic flake paint job.

If I was redoing the uniforms I'd go with a dark red helmet with the current logo and a dark red facemask. The home jerseys would be dark red with gold numbers outlined in white and solid gold pants. Road jerseys would be white with dark red numbers outlined in gold and would use the same pants as the home set.

[IowaFan26]

If you want to see what the pants look like, you can catch them in the first few minutes of the video on this page.

http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?D...p;ATCLID=858344

[fkaKrock5cent]

i'd be all over sending a submission but i don't have any vector programs other than inkscape

[rtrich11]

Anyone know what happened with this little "contest"? I'm just curious if anything came out of this besides a little press. I ended up sending something, but I only spent a single hour on it total.

[buckeyes]

axl should enter his alternate helmets

[PackerBadger]

This doesn't make sense. The McCarney era -- or the Deemphasized Gold Era -- was only arguably the most successful in the history of ISU. (McCarney is the all-time winningest Cyclone coach.) More than half of the bowl games the Cyclones went to and their two only bowl wins came in the McCarney era.

I admit the tomato look isn't my idea of style, but why would they go away from this look?

This is admittedly a ripoff of the Chiefs' look, but what else are you going to do with ketchup and mustard? I think the above look (and the Chiefs' look) is as good as you can get with those colors. More importantly, it represents the most success ISU has had in the entire history of their football program. Going back to the yellow pants (and, I'll bet, yellow helmets) is a downgrade and a regression to their bad old days.