Illinois Football Uniforms

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#682      
I mean, this has to make the slant ILLINOIS our official helmet now, right?

I think it does, that slant that I used to hate has grown on me. Now that the Giants no longer use it, we can own it.

I would not expand it across other sports; keep it on the helmets only, leaving the rest of the branding as it is—but we do need to modify our font.
 
#684      
Between the Kansas game, Nebraska game, and this game, it has been a glorious comeback for the Illinois helmets. Clearly Josh and Bret like them, and I have a very happy feeling that they will be a part of the rotation from now on 😊😊😊
Yeah like I was saying earlier in the season, it both is the only throwback helmet that matches the current uniform and the helmet that Bret probably most associates with Illinois. However you feel about it (not my favorite but I can respect the history), I can see why the team keeps using it.
 
#685      
I might have said this before, but credit where it is due to Bret for digging in on “Illinois = orange helmet”.

The spread of extremely gimmicky alternates throughout the NFL this year has really driven home what a record-scratch moment it is when, say, the Colts are wearing a black helmet or the Lions are wearing a blue one.
 
#687      
I might have said this before, but credit where it is due to Bret for digging in on “Illinois = orange helmet”.

The spread of extremely gimmicky alternates throughout the NFL this year has really driven home what a record-scratch moment it is when, say, the Colts are wearing a black helmet or the Lions are wearing a blue one.
The NFL being a decade late to the party with mix and match helmets is their NBA sleeved jerseys moment. Bizarre misstep from a league that has previously habitually excelled in the iconography business.
 
#688      
I might have said this before, but credit where it is due to Bret for digging in on “Illinois = orange helmet”.

The spread of extremely gimmicky alternates throughout the NFL this year has really driven home what a record-scratch moment it is when, say, the Colts are wearing a black helmet or the Lions are wearing a blue one.
Agreed fully. On that note, I think it is the perfect example of how just because something looks "good," that doesn't mean it *fits* your program's brand/identity. I'm glad Bret seems committed to Illini football having a look that is at least in some ways classic. As others have said before, given our history, that type of look just fits us more naturally than chasing trends. For example, I actually think this combo looked best with our Lovie Era uniform set, even if that is more of a damnation of those uniforms than anything else:

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,,, and I think both of these away combos from our Beckman Era set actually look pretty slick in isolation...

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However, both just look fundamentally "off" if you are trying to reestablish any type of long-standing, recognizable "look" for Illini football. I think at this point, an orange helmet with a B/W/B striping pattern in the middle is solidified as our most timeless look, and I fully support only ever wearing that. My one exception? If we were to just dive head first into the 1980s arched ILLINI style (simply because it's my preferred throwback to the slant ILLINOIS helmet), but I think you would need to rework the jersey/pant stripes to match it a little better (maybe not, not sure, lol...). I could also be persuaded to just stick with what we've got instead.

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P.S. I find it odd that Bret's preference for the more traditional orange helmet doesn't extend to a distaste for us wearing white pants on the road - something that seemed to be exceedingly rare in the 1989-2005 eras. One possible explanation is that we clearly (for some bizarre reason) seem to think it matters for our shoulder and pants stripes to match (we have worn O/B/B, O/W/W and O/O/O enough times to make this clear...), but our best look by far - the standard home O/B/O - doesn't accomplish this anyway...? So, why do we care so much on the road? Lol. I feel like the only time we should ever entertain white pantis with orange jerseys, but this current set of all orange looks shockingly good, so ... retire 'em already, Bret!

P.P.S. Posting that photo made me realize why I (A) love our standard home uniforms so much, (B) hate the white pants on the road and (C) really want #BPOTR to get its shot ... I firmly prefer that any Illini uniform in any sport incorporates orange, navy and white prominently. With our home uniforms, this is mainly accomplished by the white letters on the navy jerseys. For a #BPOTR game, this would obviously be accomplished by having orange helmets, white jerseys and navy pants. Even with an O/W/O combo, the striping pattern on the pants makes the navy pop and achieves that look. However, the O/W/W combo looks like our colors are mostly just orange white from a distance, and I kind of hate that. It's my same issue with our current default basketball jerseys, as the white and orange uniforms have WAY too little navy given no outlines on 1LL1NO1S or the numbers.
 
#689      
The hardware would have to cover up the chief a little bit, but I do like it.
Begin the effort to bring back the Chief. There is now a concerted effort to bring back the Washington Redskins name and logo and is being pushed by the Blackfoot Indian nation.

 
#698      
I feel triggered seeing the basketball coaching staff wearing sweet arched illini branded gear but football won't wear it on the helmets again🤬
I told my brother yesterday that it’s probably a good thing that the gear worn by the Illini basketball coaches isn’t available to the public. I’d have a closet full of apparel and be out a lot of money. In particular, those arched Illini half zips yeaterday were SO good.
 
#700      
"A" for effort. I love that our FB creatives / mktg. apparatus are at least trying new stuff these days.
I agree. Is it the greatest thing I’ve ever seen? Certainly no. But doing special things for special occasions is a really nice touch. The B1G team often does similar things for the Rose Bowl, it’s nice to see a similar effort made for the Wrigley game.
 
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