Russell Contract?

Vespidae

Vespidae

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I like it. They need to add the ACC logo ... and come up with a "special" uniform. UT has the Smokey, which grew on me ... but the ugliest has to be Notre Dame's Green uniform. Hideous!
 

RyanS12

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Everyone can say what they want about us having Russell uniforms but it 100% plays into these kids heads now days. A year ago I was at BW's with a local AAU team here in Flint watching games and GT was on. You better believe they were all getting on me about the R. Comments like "only high school teams or middle school teams wear Russell" or "I couldn't play for someone that has D2 uniforms". Granted they're kids saying kiddish things but it is another negative with GT in recruiting.
 

Rock

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615
RyanS12 said:
Everyone can say what they want about us having Russell uniforms but it 100% plays into these kids heads now days. A year ago I was at BW's with a local AAU team here in Flint watching games and GT was on. You better believe they were all getting on me about the R. Comments like "only high school teams or middle school teams wear Russell" or "I couldn't play for someone that has D2 uniforms". Granted they're kids saying kiddish things but it is another negative with GT in recruiting.
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They are kids.
"Image" matters. As immature as that is, it does play into it.
 
kg01

kg01

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RyanS12 said:
Everyone can say what they want about us having Russell uniforms but it 100% plays into these kids heads now days. A year ago I was at BW's with a local AAU team here in Flint watching games and GT was on. You better believe they were all getting on me about the R. Comments like "only high school teams or middle school teams wear Russell" or "I couldn't play for someone that has D2 uniforms". Granted they're kids saying kiddish things but it is another negative with GT in recruiting.
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That's the thing all us "old" guys need to remember w.r.t. the uniform discussions. It's not for us, it's for these kids.
 
JacketFromUGA

JacketFromUGA

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Rock said:
They are kids.
"Image" matters. As immature as that is, it does play into it.
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100% agree but to not think "image" matters to adults is folly.

Perceptions is always greater than reality and the perception is Tech has a lower tier uniform provider because it is a lower tier program.
 
Vespidae

Vespidae

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JacketFromUGA said:
Perceptions is always greater than reality and the perception is Tech has a lower tier uniform provider because it is a lower tier program.
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Isn't this a function of GTAA?

I look at the great programs (Alabama, UT, Notre Dame, Auburn, etc) and they seldom swing so wildly in their branding, merchandising, and uniform outcomes. In general, they work really well together. The refreshes, when they happen, are historically respectful and if anything, an improvement.

When I go to a UT game (or Alabama, Penn State, etc), I never even think about "what uniform will we wear today?" It's just understood. Many of these programs have a classic simplicity that works exceedingly well. (It's a true-ism that fewer colors is more timeless than more.)

Tech, during my 35 years ... has been ALL OVER THE MAP. Black jerseys, blue jerseys, white jerseys, gold jerseys ... jerseys where you can read the numbers and jerseys where you can't. White helmets, gold helmets, helmets with honeycomb. How can Tech possibly translate any of this mess into an effective merchandising program? You can't. That's why we a) get crud and b) it doesn't sell.

You can't build anticipation and exclusivity ("Son, maybe one day you'll be good enough to wear Old Gold, but until then, it's State U for you.") when you are all over the place.

I love Tech. But I can't understand why an AA who pays their AD 600K, 750K and now 900K accepts such mediocrity. Infuriating!
 
Whiskey_Clear

Whiskey_Clear

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Wrong brand not cool, same old same old, not cool. (If you want a young persons thoughts there ya go).

They don't care about year to year change / consistency in apparel. That's what old fogies care about. Also, like flea pointed out, free cool gear matters the most....the more the better.
 
TechTravis

TechTravis

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Vespidae said:
Let me start by saying I am not a fan of Nike. I actually go out of my way not to buy it.

But kudos for what they did for for UT's brand. They researched it extensively and came up with a whole new logo system, dumping UT in favor of the Power T. All new branding system, all new merchandising, and yes ... new uniforms including the Smokey Special.

Overall, they did a great sports branding job. UA was a customer of mine and they are ok ... but Nike nailed it.
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I wouldn't mind a little variance on the GT helmet thing. A bit more assertiveness with the logo...
 
JacketFromUGA

JacketFromUGA

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One thing that the other brands will bring wit this new contract is a Point of contact or team that helps handle the overall branding side of things. This to me is the biggest point of switching to UA since they seem to be the ones truly going out of their way to do that with their P5 schools.
 
Vespidae

Vespidae

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JacketFromUGA said:
One thing that the other brands will bring wit this new contract is a Point of contact or team that helps handle the overall branding side of things. This to me is the biggest point of switching to UA since they seem to be the ones truly going out of their way to do that with their P5 schools.
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A good example is University of Tennessee. For years (40?), they used the "UT" branding scheme not just in athletics, but also for the school. And it wasn't done consistently.

Nike led the effort and COMPLETELY revamped the visual identify system for the entire school. The color orange used changed (brighter), the typography changed, the logo lock-ups changed, the entire campus system changed. They added the checkerboard to the uniforms (pants and helmets) and did it in a very tasteful way.

This is what I'd like to see for Tech. An integrated visual identity system across the school and the athletic teams. Today ... there are different schemes and none look to me like they are are enforced. As so happens in many organizations, no one person is in charge. Hence ... mush.
 
Dottie1145

Dottie1145

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IMG_0258.JPG

How about this kind of design with the "background" image being the Tech Tower?
 
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