Oregon Strategy Session: Ducks Looking to Fly High in New Uniforms

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

There could not be a more polarizing university when it comes to style and fashion. 

The Oregon Ducks have once again changed their uniforms, a year earlier than it was reportedly going to happen.

It is easy to tell what most media personalities will think of the uniforms, but what will the fans and players think? The yellow uniforms always look good in person, and the only other major change was the addition of a white and silver uniform. 

Known around the country by casual fans as “Nike U,” Oregon has been at the forefront of jersey creation over the past 10 years. Approximately every three years, the team will change the scheme of their jerseys. This gives the Ducks a huge recruiting tool, allowing them to tell players that they can have input on the style of jersey they will eventually wear.

With Oregon being stuck in the cold and wet Pacific Northwest (at least for seven months of the year), it cannot use the weather as a recruiting tool. Facilities, education, and tradition can only take the school so far, but the ability to tell players they can be a part of something that will live on at the school after they graduate is a huge plus.  

Constantly changing jersey is also a way to open a revenue stream. Oregon fans love their team, and they love to have the jerseys that the team wears. If half the capacity in the stadium (approx. 29,000) buys jerseys for $50 a piece, you do the math. 

Let’s get down to the new jerseys.  Oregon got rid of the yellow helmet, pleasing many people, and added a silver helmet and uniform. The helmet again pushes the limit, but is unique as expected. It has a yellow “O” on the side and an almost “Gucci”-like pattern.  A stripe down the center contains the words, “Go Hard, Go Oregon, Go Ducks.”   

As for the jerseys, all of them have the scarabaeus wings. These wings were seen on the uniforms in the home finale against Arizona last fall. 

Oregon will definitely maintain the title of most intriguing uniforms in 2009. Many of the old farts like former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz say that traditional uniforms look better. On teams like Penn State and Notre Dame, it is not hard to agree, but college football is advancing out of past traditions.

With the uprising of the mid-major schools and talent being so evenly spread throughout the nation, college football is changing, and teams like Oregon and Boise State see change as a way to promote their brand. That is why teams that push the boundaries are successful. They use creativity and forward-thinking to promote their product.

As long as the Ducks' success continues, who cares what the jerseys look like. Even if media personalities express their dislike for them, they are talking about Oregon, and that is certainly part of the reason Oregon is on so many recruits top five lists around the country.

National exposure, whether good or bad, is as important to a program as an apple is to apple pie. The Oregon Athletic Department has an outstanding amount of creativity and will continue to prosper on the media front as long as their business savvy is maintained. If the Ducks do continue their winning ways, not much will change around Nike U., and we should all be just fine with that. 

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