Florida Gators Officially Unveil Black Unis to be Worn November 4, 2023

The Florida Gators have announced they will wear all-black uniforms against Arkansas on November 4 of this year, during their ‘Saluting Those Who Serve’ game. The team will honor members of the armed forces, veterans and local first responders.

According to the Gators, the “Florida football team will wear alternate black uniforms for the first time in school history.”

Along with that press release, the team put out one tweet which unfortunately doesn’t give us a look at the full uniform. So let’s take a look at what the team did show:

HELMET

The helmet is a matte black, with “Gators” script on the sides in blue, outlined in white. The helmet stripe is in Florida school colors of orange/blue/white/blue/orange.

The team also released a video, which also doesn’t show the full uniform, but here is a screen grab of the back of the helmet:

JERSEY

Again, no look at the full jersey, but a photo (and I got another screen grab) that reveals…

Obviously the jersey is black, with the orange/blue/white/blue/orange striping pattern on the sleeve caps. “Gators” in script will be on the chest. Numbers will be white, with a blue and orange outline.

Fortunately there was a retail leak of the jersey earlier this month, and while it’s not the cut players will wear, it at least gives us a look at the front.

** A few years ago, Florida flirted with, but did not actually wear, a black uniform. The uniforms they’ll break out this year are similar — but the new unis have the “Gators” script on the jersey and helmet, whereas the prototypes had only a gator head logo on the jersey and helmet (See below for update)

PANTS

Again, no full look at the pants, but here’s a partial glimpse of the side:

That shows a gator logo on the right front, and shows a partial orange/blue/white stripe. It’s impossible to discern if the complete striping pattern (as is seen on the helmet and sleeve caps) is there (though there is a faint blue at the top of the photo), so we can assume it will be the full orange/blue/white/blue/orange.

I suppose it was just a matter of time before such a storied program as Florida broke out a BFBS uniform (especially after teasing one a few years back). In a vacuum, I actually really like what I’ve seen (and that’s admittedly less than half the uniform), but will need to see them on the field to render a final judgment. I hate that they’ve going BFBS — but if you’re going to do that, these look to be the way to go.

• • • • •** UPDATE: I received a DM from the great Gators Uniform Tracker, who apprised me of the following concerning the use of black football uniforms at Florida:

Hey Phil! Hope all is well. Reaching out as I read the Uni Watch article on the black uniforms and wanted to share some corrections on this section.

The “black uniform” hyperlink was a fan’s mock-up and not official and not a prototype. The “helmet” hyperlink you have hyperlinked to the 2017 Swamp Green uniform helmet, which had the Gatorhead logo on the helmet.

There’s only been teases of a black uniform (quotes only), but not official prototypes or mock-ups or anything. Just sharing for accuracy!

Here’s the link to his article on the Gators new black uniforms, which, if you scroll down, gives a fantastic timeline of black uniform news, which I highly recommend reading.

UPDATE: Thanks to Gator Uniform Tracker, here’s what the full uniform will look like with some details:

The details:

– Black helmet w/ blue script Gators 🔵
– Script Gators on chest of jersey ⚫
– Master stripe throughout ✔
– Nameplates will feature 1/5 words that embody those who serve 🇺🇸#GoGators #JUMPMAN pic.twitter.com/TthpisvPLj

— Gators Uniform Tracker (@GatorsUnis) August 16, 2023