Illinois Football Uniforms

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#151      

dgcrow

Kelso, WA
Anybody see the zoom call with Bielema and the alumni? He said that there is nothing cleaner to him than the block I and he would like to see it on the pants also. Commented that he wants the uniforms to not be constantly changing and help establish an identity. He also called the shield "that alternate logo with the block I and those tracks underneath" :ROFLMAO: This might give some clues to future unis.

Certainly agree with that.
 
#152      
Certainly agree with that.
I agree as well. Would love to see a helmet design (as well as a uniform design) that is timeless and can be our identity. The same as ScUM, Bama, Pedo State, etc. i.e. when you see the uniform you immediately know what team it is.
 
#153      
I think teams have the best jerseys when they take inspiration from previous generations, and add a few new features to modernize it. That being said here is my attempt. 80's helmet, 90's pants, current or late 00's numbers, with a "new ;)" little detailing on the sleeves. What do we think? A TheFlyingIllini exclusive

ILLINI ALT CN.png
ILLINI HOME CN.png
 
#154      
I really liked the late 00s uniforms but maybe part of it was the fact we actually had legit athletes like Juice and Benn and Mendenhall that filled them out. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I definitely don’t mind this setup at all although I have a hard time believing they’ll ever bring back the ILLINI on the helmets.

Agree with BB that we need to create an identity. The last several years have been pretty awful with the revolving door of mostly ugly uniforms and even uglier play.
 
#155      
I think teams have the best jerseys when they take inspiration from previous generations, and add a few new features to modernize it. That being said here is my attempt. 80's helmet, 90's pants, current or late 00's numbers, with a "new ;)" little detailing on the sleeves. What do we think? A TheFlyingIllini exclusive

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I like them. Especially the "ILLINI" on the helmets.
 
#156      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
I like them. Especially the "ILLINI" on the helmets.
It was so bizarre how in the 80's that logo was hugging the earhole of the helmet rather than being higher up.

And either way, I am always hesitant of using "Illini", because it leads to people saying "Illinois Illini" without the "Fighting" which is nails on a chalkboard for me.

I think teams have the best jerseys when they take inspiration from previous generations, and add a few new features to modernize it. That being said here is my attempt. 80's helmet, 90's pants, current or late 00's numbers, with a "new ;)" little detailing on the sleeves. What do we think? A TheFlyingIllini exclusive

View attachment 7104View attachment 7105

Pretty compelling evidence there that white numbers are better than orange, right?

I agree as well. Would love to see a helmet design (as well as a uniform design) that is timeless and can be our identity. The same as ScUM, Bama, Pedo State, etc. i.e. when you see the uniform you immediately know what team it is.
Those iconic brands are that way because they won. Bama and Penn State looked like everybody else back in the day, but because those were dominant dynasties, they never changed.

Pretending like we have something like that when we don't is the most desperate, pathetic move imaginable. But having no stable identity at all and always being a year behind the latest trends and going 2-10 anyway is the second most desperate, pathetic move imaginable.

Do something that looks like Illinois and looks good, and build sustained success on the field (gotta have all three), and the problem is solved.
 
#157      

mattcoldagelli

The Transfer Portal
I think teams have the best jerseys when they take inspiration from previous generations, and add a few new features to modernize it. That being said here is my attempt. 80's helmet, 90's pants, current or late 00's numbers, with a "new ;)" little detailing on the sleeves. What do we think? A TheFlyingIllini exclusive

View attachment 7104View attachment 7105

Man, you take these, make the helmet and pant stripe match, and put the script "Illinois" on the helmet and baby, you've got a stew going. It would look like a throwback without actually being one, which is the absolute best we can hope for given where we are as a program right now.
 
#159      
I'm all in on the script Illinois or Illini on the helmets. Classic look that not more than than a few other D1 teams have.
I agree that we need a consistent look as well, something we wear 80-90% of the time, especially the helmets as that's the most visible feature of a uniform. Change the color of those every week and no one channel surfing knows who is playing. Orange is our identity so my vote for primary home combos will always be O/B/O, and O/W/B for the road (I love the blue pants, can't explain why).
 
#160      
Man, you take these, make the helmet and pant stripe match, and put the script "Illinois" on the helmet and baby, you've got a stew going. It would look like a throwback without actually being one, which is the absolute best we can hope for given where we are as a program right now.

I actually like the mismatched stripe for some reason but totally understand wanting to have it match, and agree it would look good with the script illini too.
 
#161      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
It would be wise to re-do the 1LL1NO1S font I think. It's just hard to square with anything that you want to be coded as "traditional", which is always going to be what the middle aged fans and donors want, always going to be what the middle aged coaches and DIA leadership want, and is kinda the way the winds are blowing with the fashion trends in sports uniforms anyway.

We're fighting an uphill battle if we can never use a wordmark on anything.

I wonder how "Fighting Illini" would look in that cursive script?

(My bet is that the font is here to stay, it just won't appear on the football uniforms, and that the Block I on the helmet is here to stay. Just praying they do it with proper alignment and colors, which would be a huge improvement)
 
#163      
It would be wise to re-do the 1LL1NO1S font I think. It's just hard to square with anything that you want to be coded as "traditional", which is always going to be what the middle aged fans and donors want, always going to be what the middle aged coaches and DIA leadership want, and is kinda the way the winds are blowing with the fashion trends in sports uniforms anyway.

We're fighting an uphill battle if we can never use a wordmark on anything.

I wonder how "Fighting Illini" would look in that cursive script?

(My bet is that the font is here to stay, it just won't appear on the football uniforms, and that the Block I on the helmet is here to stay. Just praying they do it with proper alignment and colors, which would be a huge improvement)
BB sounded like he is in love with the block I, so I think you are right that it won't disappear any time in the near (far) future. Hopefully it looks better than the current helmets. Interestingly, he mentioned that the way things work with Nike it takes about 2 years to make uniform changes.

I also think the shield will not make very many appearances considering that BB described it as that alternate logo with the I and some tracks below.
 
#164      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
he mentioned that the way things work with Nike it takes about 2 years to make uniform changes.
And it's usually on a normal cycle of 3-4 year intervals. 3 would be next year, 4 would be 2022.

There's stuff we can change without Nike though, and that's usually pretty common with new coaches (it was the blue outline on the "Illinois" helmet logo for Zook, blue facemasks replacing white for Beckman, taking the helmet stripe off for Lovie, though I think that may have been Year 2)
 
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#165      
And it's usually on a normal cycle of 3-4 year intervals. 3 would be next year, 4 would be 2022.

There's stuff we can change without Nike though, and that's usually pretty common with new coaches (it was the blue outline on the "Illinois" helmet logo for Zook, blue facemasks replacing white for Beckman, taking the helmet stripe off for Lovie, though I think that may have been Year 2)
Yeah, my thoughts were that any changes would likely be only with the helmets, and those might only be the look of the block I.
 
#168      
#169      

ILLINIShox24

Orange Krush '04 & '05
mattcoldagelli ask you shall receive. Helmet stripe matches pants, and I did my best to put the 70's script from our bball uniforms on the helmet. I prefer the 80's illini on the helmet but the script would be great too. It would be pretty easy to switch them out on a week by week basis as well.
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These are fantastic, especially with the white number. I don't understand the significance of the shoulder pattern you created, but everything else is so nice it's easy to overlook. Great job!
 
#171      

Shief

Champaign Area
@TheFlyingIllini1317 , great job on the latest version! I'm personally partial to having 'Illini', the Block I, or slant Illinois on the helmets, I attended during the Zook years, but the I could grow into the cursive Illinois.

Any plans to flesh out away (white) and alternative (orange) jerseys? What about a white helmet (I'm not a big fan of blue helmets)? What about blue and white pants (I know some don't like white pants)? What about using the shoulder/arm pattern on the helmet spine and leg stripe? I hope you take these as questions of encouragement and not critique.
 
#174      

GrayGhost77

Centennial, CO
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I hope somebody at DIA realizes that they stumbled bass-ackwards into uniform gold with this basketball jersey script. It’s so simple and in theory (“it’s the name of the state, in cursive!”) should not be nearly as awesome as it somehow came out in real life. Please, please, this.
Dang that's nice.
 
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