The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish this morning unveiled their 2024 Shamrock Series uniforms..
Let’s take a look and then we’ll discuss the unis.
The video is a spoof of “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
The team will wear these uniforms at Yankee Stadium on November 23rd, when they take on Army.
Now for the uniforms.
The team has included some handy-dandy storytelling:
As you can see, the team will wear their regular golden dome helmets with the new “blue-gray sky” uniforms.
Both the jersey and pants are blue. The jerseys have beveled gold accents for the numbers and the iconic “ND” logo, which is on the sleeve caps. The UA logo sits at the base of the collar and is also rendered in gold.
The blue pants, which are stripeless, have a UA logo on the right leg, with another beveled “ND” logo on the left pant leg.
The numbers are huge, and in a bespoke “Gothic” font.
Rear numbers (and of course, ND almost always goes NNOB) are in the same style as those found on the front of the jersey.
And here’s a bit of storytelling about those gothic numbers…
The Irish have been wearing special “Shamrock Series” (SS) uniforms for more than a decade, with the first game coming in 2009 against Washington State in the Alamodome. They played a designated SS game every year thereafter until 2017. The SS resumed in 2018, but skipped 2019 and 2020 (they had a scheduled game in 2020, but it was canceled due to COVID). In 2021 they once again resumed the SS, and played another game in 2022. 2023 once again did not have an SS game. Even though the SS began in 2009, the team basically wore their regular uniforms that game.
Here’s a look back at the uniforms worn for each of those SS games:
2010
ND vs. Army (Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY)
2011
ND vs. Maryland (FedEx Field in Landover, MD)
2012
ND vs. Miami (Soldier Field)
2013
ND vs. Arizona State (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX)
2014
ND vs. Purdue (Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN)
2015
ND vs. Boston College (Fenway Park in Boston, MA)
2016
ND vs. Army (Alamodome in San Antonio, TX)
2018
ND vs. Syracuse (Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY)
2021
ND vs. Wisconsin (Soldier Field in Chicago, IL)
2022
ND vs. BYU (Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, NV)
While I understand ND has a very classic uniform and they tend to use their SS games to go a bit wild for a game, I’m not particularly a fan of most of them. The 2024’s are no exception — the solid blue uniform is designed to highlight the beveled gold numbers and sleeve logos, but otherwise this is a very plain uniform. I get why they won’t pair the special blue jersey with their regular gold pants, but to me, if ND is wearing blue jerseys, they must wear gold pants. I guess I should be grateful they didn’t make the pants a shiny gold like the helmets and numbers/logos.
I’ll need to see these on the field to render a full opinion, but from what I’ve seen, I’m not a big fan.
Your thoughts? And of all the other SS uniforms the team has worn, which is your favorite/which did you like the least?
I won’t need to see these on the field to render a full opinion.
It stinks.
The shiny gold numbers, which shouldn’t even be allowed, will be unreadable. The color of blue is fine, though.
I hope the Black Knights thrash them.
Except for the last line…. I agree on all points. Those numbers are ridiculous.
Agreed for the reasons that you offered. So many of these Shamrock Series uniforms have been goofy and below mediocre. This one may be in the Bottom Three. So many good ones to chose from, they instead chose a current (bad) Georgia Tech rip off ….
Will these authentic looking jerseys be for sale? I see replicas that don’t have shiny numbers. If so do you know a date they will drop?
There’s also no need for that massive gap above the numbers, as if they were planning to put a NOB on later but haven’t done it yet; it’s not like the cut of the jersey demands it either. Put the digits where they belong!
I can’t imagine the numbers will be legible from any distance or on camera, especially if it’s cloudy that day
I honestly can’t even tell if cloudy or sunny is better for these numbers. They just seem to be too reflective to be readable.
What are the chances it will be cloudy in New York in November?
It will be a night game.
it can still be cloudy at night.
With the lights of the stadium, I’m not sure whether it will be more or less legible…
It’s the ultimate lose-lose situation, I think. The gold doesn’t really stand out from the jersey, but when they reflect, they might be even worse…??
It would be worse if it’s sunny.
Nasty. They had good entries the first two times (green and gold), but have gone downhill since.
Where do I cash in my chips? I’m out.
The Shamrock Series unis have largely each been really really bad. This is on par with previous badness
Loved the 2010 and 2011 versions. This latest-UGH!
The beveling looks okay on the sleeve logo, but is not readable on the numbers. The numbers are also too shiny to be readable. I think using the reflective gold as an outline on white numbers (like on their new home uniforms) would have been a better choice.
The 2011 uniform was great, but since then their special uniforms have gotten worse. The swap from their standard home blue to green was cool for special event games and did not fundamentally alter was a classic standard look.
I wish they would stick with green & gold for these uniforms. I liked both 2015 and 2016. I especially like the font from 2016. These are kind of blah. I do like the look of the beveled shoulder patch though. But, I wonder how it’ll fare during in-game usage. Like, will it get really banged up looking really quickly, and/or easily torn off?
I love the colors and idea, the execution of it just isn’t great though. If the numbers didn’t have the weird geometric pattern then I think I would actually like the Uni a lot.
(Maybe my youth and ND fandom is showing)
They really lost the plot after 2011
Great idea to wear Yankee pinstripes at the Stadium. How did they do such a terrible job? They don’t even have the excuse of having to shoehorn their color scheme into it.
Personally, I don’t love these but I’m glad they did two things: beveled the shoulder logos (which seems to increase their legibility and make them feel more “special”) and kept the gold helmets.
Always keep the gold helmets. Last time they went to NYC, they absolutely bent over backwards to the Yankees— and as a ND/Boston fan, I’m so glad they didn’t do that this time, and instead paid homage to a really precious moment in Notre Dame’s history.
Awful!
Bespoke, angluar Gothic numbers rendered in shiny metallic gold with bevels? It already looks awful and very rough on the eyes. I can’t imagine how they’ll actually look in-game. Sometimes you can be too fancy for your own good.
2021 are solid, the rest are meh
Can we all agree that Under Armour is currently the worst (design-wise) of the “big 3” NCAA uniform suppliers?
A couple of the uniforms were okay. But looking at each year’s consecutively in the pictures, it’s obvious that Under Armour/Notre Dame try WAY too hard with these unis each year. They need to dial down the “creativity” by 50%. Most of these uniforms wouldn’t look good on a MAC school with no tradition.
Well said. It feels like part of UA’s problem is their market share. They have Maryland, ND, and maybe Texas Tech? They don’t have the massive stable that Nike does where they can showcase their work (for better or for worse) all over. Even adidas has a few schools that get headlines. Notre Dame might be their marquis school and they’re trying way too hard to load up for one game.
ND fan here. I generally despise the Shamrock Series unis. These are no exception. Those numbers will be almost impossible to see on TV, much easier from a press box. The only acceptable alternative uni for Notre Dame is the green jersey.
NCAA needs to step in and regulate costumes.
These are an absolute disaster
If you can’t read the numbers in the promo images, how can referees read them at full speed on the field?
Hot garbage. ND should stick with their standard unis, and then just break out the green alternate jersey for the shamrock series game each year.
But then how would they sell new Shamrock Series’ jerseys each year?
All I could think when looking at these was “man, those numbers must be super heavy and not aerodynamic. How can they possibly play fast while wearing those?” All sarcasm aside, these might not look too bad with different numbers and on someone other than ND. Not saying good. Just not too bad.
Paul has said it about OSU every time they do an alternate – It’s automatically bad because the original is just so good. This applies in this case but even if that weren’t the case, these are just very very bad. That picture of the back is just horrendous.
As for previous versions, the three shamrock green with the gold helmet uniforms are fine (’10, ’11, ’15). I don’t prefer them and they aren’t as good as ND’s every day uni’s but they aren’t bad. The rest are garbage. Other posters have already said it but it’s worth repeating – UA is overthinking this and are generally just not real good at designing uniforms.
I think these are pretty sweet
Checks out. This guy works for Under Armour. ; )
Shhhhhh ,: )
UA does nasty things in very poor taste with the ND identity. But ofcourse ND allows this to happen for the sake of selling this bad excuse for a jersey. So they are both guilty of many uniform disasters.
CRAPOLA!
It’s so funny how so many of the UW commenters despise these uniforms, just as they despise so many others that are not traditional, and take great pains to describe their indignation in great detail.
Do you ever feel like the sports world has passed you by? Or does your righteous fury keep you believing that your opinions are relevant?
This has nothing to do with it not being “traditional”.
It’s just a bad looking uniform, plain and simple. You may have some very valid arguments about some of the more modern uniforms that have been introduced recently, but not here. This uniform is objectively terrible.
Our opinions are not any less or more relevant than yours. You like these? OK I do not? OK. If you feel you are in the middle of the sports world and I am not, feel free to move on and look for kindred spirits elsewhere. Why return here and lament the predicatbility of the comments? I think I know why you do this but that is really irrelevant.
Well said, tolngmar. “The sports world has passed us by” and “Old man yells at cloud” arguments are just trying to invalidate opinions with a back-handed remark. I think it’s more that kids these days just don’t have taste. They grew up in the Spongebob and TikTok era and have an attention span of a squirrel. Tradition be damned. They just need something new, something different. If it’s crap, they’ll just put the fire emoji in the comment section and tell people that don’t like it to get with the times, then move on to their next quick fix. I have yet to see a uniform that the “kids” DON’T like, so that tells me everything I need to know.
Phil, Ingmar, and Chris’ comments are OK. Yours is not.
Yeah sure.
“Or does your righteous fury keep you believing that your opinions are relevant?” is okay? And the second someone calls him out, it’s an issue? No, we traditionalists are constantly being told our opinions are irrelevant. I’m just merely pointing out that his and theirs are just as irrelevant then.
And you proved his point (and many others’) when you said “I think it’s more that kids these days just don’t have taste.”
That was said semi-jokingly. More as a clap back. But I also qualified it with the more serious thing I’m questioning – “I have yet to see a uniform that the “kids” DON’T like, so that tells me everything I need to know.” Do kids just like anything new and shiny regardless? Legit question.
I’m 29, so I’m not sure if I fit into your definition of a “kid”, but I think we both know “kids think new = good” is a gross oversimplification.
I don’t think this is the best uniform hill to die on for those of the younger persuasion. I think it’s terrible, and that has nothing to do with it being new or not.
It’s funny how badly you missed the point trying to condescend to people who disagree with you.
The numbers are illegible, and they are the focal point of the design. Everything else is a washed-out gray-blue canvas for a design element that can’t serve its primary purpose (identifying individual players) because the design (color and font) is so overdesigned that it can’t be read from a distance on a moving player.
Very trashy and tacky uniform. The color is good otherwise a disaster. One would think a classic rivalry game like ND Army in a venue like Yankee Stadium ND would want something more traditional. The 2022 uni worn in LV is by far the best of the Shamrocks.
2010 was good but the rest are trying to hard. Home Irish use to be so intimidating, on par with Penn State; whom get primetime national coverage not because of good team but the historic uniforms, grass field, and atmosphere. ND lost its lore
Those gold numbers look like Chris Sale got ahold of 50 million Elvis Presley lame pants. Yet another reason to hate Notre Dame.
To think that incident was eight years ago…
Ahhh…A fookin’ mess me lads…..
Geezus, this is why I hope my Trojans never go down this slippery slope. ND was the original alternate uniform team, where they rarely broke out green jerseys, usually against USC. And that was great for many years. Then Oregon and Nike happened, and now they have joined this abomination of defiling one of the truly great CFB uniforms.
I’m not an ND fan at all.
But I absolutely love everything about the new uni.
I love the blue-grey color (I would love to see it in a regular rotation), the shoulder logo, and the Gothic style numbers. Not a fan of the shininess of the numbers. I think where they swung and missed on this particular uni, is not having the pinstripes for a game at Yankee Stadium…isn’t that one of those “unwritten rules”?
The Four Horsemen are turning over in their graves! Wow what a letdown. They could have done so much with the unis to honor them and that great victory. There is absolutely nothing about this uniform that harkens back to that era. Blue-gray color scheme and that font!?! Nope, not even close. I would have loved to seen something resembling the 2017 Rockne Heritage uniform with a new leather look throwback helmet. Let’s just hope the season isn’t as atrocious as the uniform is.
I don’t like these, but I’m excited to see how they look on the field, mostly because I’m curious how they numbers look in action and reflecting lights and the stadium.
I wouldn’t doubt the NCAA will either make them change the number font or cut down on the shinyness of the numbers. I don’t know how the refs are going to be able to see these very well on the field.
An interesting development in the further weirdness of how uniform makers talk about uniforms, in the promo video he calls them hunks of “material” instead of fabric. It feels very much like when Nike calls their templates a “chassis”.
Uniforms are clothes, they’re not cars, and it’s okay to talk about them like they’re clothes, you’re not gonna suddenly lose your manhood if you say the word “sewing”
Hear, hear. It is the elephant in the room with these brands: how can male sports fans with a huge dosis of jock in them talk passionately about uniforms without fear of being labelled a bunch of hysterical girls scrolling their instagram accounts? By the brands using semi-manly terms like chassis, material, assembling, et cetera. It is condescending, offensive to everybody and inaccurate to steer away from terms like template, fabric, pattern, sewing. Why are they afraid of the accepted fashion vocabulary?
If they’re not going to wear shamrocks or at least wear green, isn’t it time to rename the series? Certainly there’s enough ND mythology to come up with a different name that doesn’t clash with the uniforms.
To each their own. I love 2016 (also the best message) and the color of 2014. The 2018 Pinstripe was a fun 1st for football in the “new” Yankee Stadium, little cheesy but was fun being there. Green/Gold will always be a ND staple and favorite for most of us. This will be my 4th SS, I love the chance to get the ND name out there and play a game in a visitor city to be blessed by the Irish. Most of you all sound like grumpy old men protecting your yard. Let the younglings play. Go Irish!
I think Jimmer Vilk would agree, it’s high time for Notre Dame to go back to Champion. Does Champion still make uniforms? Doesn’t matter. If they don’t, maybe Notre Dame can find some new-old stock unis from the late 80s-early 90s.
These unis are great if only because they piss everybody off.
I’ll just add my quick two cents and say, football-wise, this has to up there with the late 2010s Tampa Bay Bucs (which is my favorite NFL team), Jacksonville Jaguars, and Cleveland Browns territory as one of the worse uniforms I have seen. This is embarrassing for Under Armor. Many people on this site could do much better than that effort.