Under Armour’s New College Football Uniforms Partially Inspired by Yoga Pants

Every performance uniform company likes to tout its newest generation of uniforms as something akin to “bigger, faster, stronger” or some other buzz word salads that are designed to make it sound like every uniform made before was comparable to the players wearing leather helmets and canvas pants from the 1920s and 1930s. So it should come as no surprise that Under Armour, which has introduced a new uniform template for its eight college teams this fall, will offer “new uniforms feature a sleek, modern look and performance enhancements only Under Armour could deliver: a lock-down fit in the pants and jerseys that is not easily grabbed by other athletes, a no-slip waistband, and improved ventilation.”

And so UA has introduced the “ARMR 037 uniform, the brand’s most innovative American football design to date.”

We should of course be skeptical of any claims made by sports apparel companies, and UA is no exception. But one of the more interesting aspects of UA’s new design is not so much the jersey, but the pants.

Take a look at the new Notre Dame uniform pictured above, on the right. Do you notice anything different about the pants?

I know, I know — most new uniform unveils now feature players with untucked undershirts — so often part of the pants are obscured. Let’s compare the new pants for ND on the left, vs. an older generation (2019) shown on the right:

Can you spot the difference? Yes, the pants on the right (like most football pants) have a belt. The new ones do not. According to UA …

The optimal fit, comfort, and functionality of the new uniforms represent years of work by the brand’s innovation and design teams to implement athlete feedback. One of the team’s goals for the new uniform iteration was to develop a better fitting pant with more secure coverage in the waist area. To achieve this, the team integrated the no-slip technology from its beloved yoga pant into the waistbands of the new football pants.

Emphasis mine. Under Armour’s Design Director of Team Sports, Kelsey Greenwell, said players complained about their pants rolling, coming down, or not staying in place and having to be adjusted while playing football. She and her team spent countless hours talking with players and designers, and conducted more than 200 meetings, in addition to comprehensive wear tests. Throughout the design process, they continued to dialogue with athletes to research and figure out how to address player concerns about the uniform pants.

“Players did not want to wear the belts; they were cutting them out,” said Greenwell. “We continue to stay up to date on sport culture and see how trends evolve. As we were hearing those trends changing, we knew we had to get after it. We don’t want to be the last to the party. We want to set the trend and give them the answers they are looking for.”

The solution, it turns out, already existed in an Under Armour product, albeit one not usually associated with football: yoga pants.

“Our team conducted numerous focus groups, where players voiced the need to consistently readjust their pants during play. To solve this, we leveraged the no-slip waistband construction from our women’s yoga pants. This seemingly small, innovative swap has made a tremendous difference for our athletes, who love the increased coverage over traditional football pants.”

It’s obviously still too early to tell if the new “innovation” will live up to the hype, but we should soon find out — the NCAA football season kicks off this weekend (the “Week 0” games), with all teams beginning play over the Labor Day weekend. But the early reviews have been positive.

“I feel like I’m naked when I’m wearing it” said a Maryland Terrapins player upon testing the new uniforms.

The pants aren’t the only innovation (the linked UA article at the top of this post goes into detail about the jerseys as well). Old UW pal/contributor/friend (and Auburn alum/devotee) Clint Richardson has a really excellent breakdown of UA’s new uniforms on his website, Auburn Uniforms. (Highly recommended reading!) We’ll be hearing from Clint next week on the new NCAAFB uniforms for 2024 as well.

It should be noted that previously, UA offered football pants with both a belt and a drawstring option, the new pants don’t — the “no slip” technology of the yoga pants is now fully integrated into the britches, and this “updated waistband construction provides more coverage and mitigates distractions by offering an improved fit that helps keep athletes’ pants in place.”

We’ve often remarked that teams who wear same color socks and pants have that “leotard” or “yoga pants” look — and in a roundabout way, that will be more true than ever!

I can see a day in the not too distant future when the football uniform is designed to look more like a Superhero costume, and will be a one-piece garment — and today’s players have been greatly influenced over the past decade or so by movies, especially those from the DC Comics and Marvel franchises. In many cases, putting on the uniform for them is akin to transforming from a mere mortal into a superhero straight out of their favorite movie (but that’s an article for another day).

For now, players can rest serene knowing their new pants were inspired by yoga pants technology.

Your thoughts?