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Love them or hate them, you can't deny that Oregon's uniforms are unique.
They are after all the only team I know of that puts the number of national championships they've won on their helmet.
Oregon embraced modern students ten years before everyone else did. Its why it went from a school happy to have the 50th ranked recruiting class and make the Rose Bowl ever 20 years, to top 20 classes and finishing ranked every season. For a school in a tiny little town, far from any city, with more interest in local high school track than football, they have an amazing story. But if bullying a school with no endowment, no media presence, no history of greatness, and no reason to win games like the Ohio State game last season makes you feel better, go for it. I doubt they will ever be Alabama, Ohio State, or Notre Dame, but what they are, is a good football product that does way better than any of their peers. Plus, I love the colors and the uniforms.
Oregon embraced modern students ten years before everyone else did. Its why it went from a school happy to have the 50th ranked recruiting class and make the Rose Bowl ever 20 years, to top 20 classes and finishing ranked every season. For a school in a tiny little town, far from any city, with more interest in local high school track than football, they have an amazing story. But if bullying a school with no endowment, no media presence, no history of greatness, and no reason to win games like the Ohio State game last season makes you feel better, go for it. I doubt they will ever be Alabama, Ohio State, or Notre Dame, but what they are, is a good football product that does way better than any of their peers. Plus, I love the colors and the uniforms.
Ask any coach/recruiter doing this for more than 20 years. One of the coolest experiences I ever had was sitting at a bar at an airport when my flight was cancelled, the guy next to me, who I did not recognize and me started talking. The woman on my right joined in. We all talked, laughed and eventually talked about what we did. He initially said he worked for a university, finally saying he was a coach. Turns out is was Steve Lavin, former UCLA and then current St. Johns coach (this was about 7-8 years ago when he was still at St. Johns). It was he who used that term and told me about how Oregon got it when it came to modern athletes caring about the way you look and the brand. He was a very cool guy, and was honest about how much recruiting changed during his 20 years as a head coach. How technology changed communications and how the athlete themselves changed as the business of college sports exploded. This isn't something new, the athlete in the past ten years is attracted to far different things than an athlete in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course it continues to evolve and athletes today with NIL deals are recruited far differently than athletes 10 years ago. It will continue to evolve. But Oregon's "crazy uniform" thing and working with Phil Knight and Nike to make uniforms that 18 year old men love but old men hate, is what I am referring to. Nike, having more experience at marketing to teen male athletes than anyone but maybe Adidas in Europe, knew what they were doing. Oregon got it early, and many other teams without the benefit of being a blueblood program got into it as well. In my experience, blueblood fans hate that little schools without their history get to play in their domain. But that is just me.
Ask any coach/recruiter doing this for more than 20 years.
Oh yeah, let me just pull up the veteran D1 coach that I've got in my phone contacts
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr.strangelove
One of the coolest experiences I ever had was sitting at a bar at an airport when my flight was cancelled, the guy next to me, who I did not recognize and me started talking. The woman on my right joined in. We all talked, laughed and eventually talked about what we did. He initially said he worked for a university, finally saying he was a coach. Turns out is was Steve Lavin, former UCLA and then current St. Johns coach (this was about 7-8 years ago when he was still at St. Johns). It was he who used that term and told me about how Oregon got it when it came to modern athletes caring about the way you look and the brand. He was a very cool guy, and was honest about how much recruiting changed during his 20 years as a head coach. How technology changed communications and how the athlete themselves changed as the business of college sports exploded. This isn't something new, the athlete in the past ten years is attracted to far different things than an athlete in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course it continues to evolve and athletes today with NIL deals are recruited far differently than athletes 10 years ago. It will continue to evolve.
Thanks for explaining the term.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr.strangelove
But Oregon's "crazy uniform" thing and working with Phil Knight and Nike to make uniforms that 18 year old men love but old men hate, is what I am referring to. Nike, having more experience at marketing to teen male athletes than anyone but maybe Adidas in Europe, knew what they were doing. Oregon got it early, and many other teams without the benefit of being a blueblood program got into it as well. In my experience, blueblood fans hate that little schools without their history get to play in their domain. But that is just me.
I get that. For the record though, I was in high school when Oregon first started experimenting with their uniform variations. I thought they were goofy and gimmicky then, too.
Ask any coach/recruiter doing this for more than 20 years. One of the coolest experiences I ever had was sitting at a bar at an airport when my flight was cancelled, the guy next to me, who I did not recognize and me started talking. The woman on my right joined in. We all talked, laughed and eventually talked about what we did. He initially said he worked for a university, finally saying he was a coach. Turns out is was Steve Lavin, former UCLA and then current St. Johns coach (this was about 7-8 years ago when he was still at St. Johns). It was he who used that term and told me about how Oregon got it when it came to modern athletes caring about the way you look and the brand. He was a very cool guy, and was honest about how much recruiting changed during his 20 years as a head coach. How technology changed communications and how the athlete themselves changed as the business of college sports exploded. This isn't something new, the athlete in the past ten years is attracted to far different things than an athlete in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course it continues to evolve and athletes today with NIL deals are recruited far differently than athletes 10 years ago. It will continue to evolve. But Oregon's "crazy uniform" thing and working with Phil Knight and Nike to make uniforms that 18 year old men love but old men hate, is what I am referring to. Nike, having more experience at marketing to teen male athletes than anyone but maybe Adidas in Europe, knew what they were doing. Oregon got it early, and many other teams without the benefit of being a blueblood program got into it as well. In my experience, blueblood fans hate that little schools without their history get to play in their domain. But that is just me.
Thanks, I thought you were referring to something completely different.
I agree that Oregon's niche is their flash. They have certainly made a reputation for themselves off of their relationship with Nike. I think that will ultimately help them stay relevant in this quick changing college football landscape. They've been able to see limited success, playing for 2 titles in recent years.
However, I think this thread is simply some good old fashion smack talk! That's what makes college football fun!
Thanks, I thought you were referring to something completely different.
I agree that Oregon's niche is their flash. They have certainly made a reputation for themselves off of their relationship with Nike. I think that will ultimately help them stay relevant in this quick changing college football landscape. They've been able to see limited success, playing for 2 titles in recent years.
However, I think this thread is simply some good old fashion smack talk! That's what makes college football fun!
They are going to have to figure out where they are playing in a couple years. Perhaps the Boise St way is best. Play in a weak conference and win 10 plus games every year. Or go to one of the Big 2 conferences and take your chances.
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