Kennesaw State Football Uniform Suggestions

Congratulations on Kennesaw State’s new football program! This is a proud moment for the school, and for all Cobb County residents like me.

As a student of good and bad uniforms for the past forty years, I’d like to offer my help with the uniform design process. A great uniform needs to be attractive both to an 18-year old athlete considering playing for KSU, as well as the alumni and other north-Georgia ticket-buying football fans.

A great uniform dovetails precisely with Coach Dooley’s quote in the press conference:

A football team, Dooley said, “establishes national brand and by that I mean a visible distinguished identification and a national prominence that’s really not available from any part of the campus. It does initiate a sense of pride, a point of connection around the state. A football and a marching band energizes campus life and turns into the heartbeat and the spirit of a campus.”

Please do not hesitate to call me with any uniform design questions you may have.

Sincerely,

David

Marietta, GA

A few respectfully submitted suggestions:

Keep it simple! This is a hallmark of most of the most successful football programs in the country: Southern Cal, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, UCLA, Nebraska, Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia.

Watch out for manufacturers marketing their latest “trendy” designs. They care more about making a name for themselves than maintaining school integrity. While companies like Nike and Russell can supply low-cost product, it still should be the school that has the final say.

Jerseys: These days jerseys are basically sleeveless, leaving little room on the shoulders for both stripes and TV numbers. Skip placing a logo on the shoulders or sleeves, which is usually a repeat of the nearby helmet logo anyway.

For a distinctive look, forgo the TV numbers and go with shoulder stripes instead. For a black jersey, a gold-burgundy-gold stripe might look good, or white-burgundy-white. The white jersey would look great with black-gold-black stripes, and large, black block numbers. Refrain from trendy colored side panels or piping.

Try to keep the front of the jersey clean. Some teams will have three or four logos, team names, and patches, making the jersey look more like a race car. Have the jersey collar be the same color as the jersey. I don’t think it would look good to place the team name on the front of the jersey, as “Kennesaw State” is too long, and “Owls” is too short.

Jersey Numbers: Large, simple, block numbers are best. Ten of the twelve teams listed above have untrimmed block numbers. It’s a football uniform, not a fashion show runway! These days jersey numbers start halfway down the player’s chest. Buck that trend! Insist on having the top of the number just below where the collar meets.

Pants: Stripes are good! Stripeless pants are too plain. Simple stripes running from top to bottom look much better than bizarre piping meandering here and there. For a sharp, clean look, stick with white pants…gold pants with black jerseys can be too much color (see Vanderbilt and Wake Forest!). Either black-gold-black or gold-black-gold stripes would look great.

Helmets: The original design shown in the AJC photo is hard to beat. The white facemask does contrast considerably with the black helmet. A black mask might look better, or the traditional grey. Grey masks allow the best view of a player’s face, in my opinion. The great-looking KSU Owl logo could be bigger, to make it more visible and formidable.

Some teams these days have uniforms seemingly designed by a committee. Contrastingly, a simple look projects a clear identity. And if you really want to make a statement, I can help with that as well.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at any time!