Last week, I noted that this past Saturday, the Louisiana State University Tigers would wear a new uniform combination (seen above), when they finished their 2024 regular season against new SEC-rival Oklahoma.
It was their sixth different uniform combination this season.
Now, when you have schools following the Oregon model of wearing 12 different uniforms in 12 games, it’s not like LSU is going to be encroaching on that uniform protocol any time soon. But for a university that not all that long ago would wear their “home” gold helmet/white jersey/gold pants uniform for almost every game (mixing in their dark [purple] uniform for one non-conference game a year), wearing six different combinations was quite a feat.
Here are all the combos the team has worn during the 2024 season:
Gold/White/Gold
Gold/Purple/Gold
Gold/White/White
White/White/White
White/Gold/White
White/Purple/White
Obviously, the Tigers are staying within school colors here, and there have been no crazy alternates. The new gold jersey, paired with the white helmets and pants, looked good on the field, and fans were generally pretty pleased.
We know that uniform selection across different sports is handled differently. Sometimes it’s even handled differently within the same sport. For example, in baseball, some teams allow the starting pitcher to select the uniform (or jersey), other times specific uniforms are worn on specific dates, no matter who is pitching. In the NBA, the home team selects its jersey (uniform) color, and then the opposing team must select a contrasting color. In the NFL, the helmet/jersey combination is sent to (and approved by) the league months before the season begins, although pants and socks are often decided upon the week of the game. Sometimes those pants/socks are chosen by captains, other times by a select few players. The NHL is somewhat similar to the NFL in that home teams must declare their uniforms/jerseys before the season, so that opposing teams can plan on what jerseys to pack for road trips. While most NHL games feature the home team wearing a dark color, a few teams will wear white at home (as God intended) for a select game(s), meaning visiting teams will need to pack dark jerseys for games against those teams.
Colleges seem to have their own protocols as well. Some schools script an entire season of uniforms before the season begins (Oregon, for example), while others mix things up as the season goes. The only true requirement for NCAAFB is the mandate that the home team must wear dark jerseys for home games, unless specific approval to wear white jerseys is given in writing, prior to the season, from opposing teams.
When LSU began mixing things up this season, I figured it was the players who requested the different uniform combinations, possibly chosen by the captains. But LSU isn’t like most teams in that they wear (or at least used to wear) their white jerseys for almost every home game. So, every season, LSU needs to get the approval of the opposing team to do so (and obviously their opponents comply). But what about the games for which they wore dark (either purple or gold) jerseys? Had the team sought approval from its opponents to wear white at home, only to switch things up later on? Were the Tigers trying for a little extra uni-mojo by picking different combos before certain games?
It turns out the answer is not what one might expect.
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly recently addressed the “uniform issue” since the team has gotten some negative feedback over the sheer number of times LSU has worn alternate uniforms, in addition to the fact the team wore gold and purple jerseys in back-to-back weeks, rather than the traditional home whites.
Perhaps surprisingly, Kelly revealed the Tigers do not make their decisions week to week on which uniforms they’ll wear. It is determined ahead of the season. Additionally, those uniforms are selected by what Kelly called the “Leadership Council.” The Council is comprised of 26 representatives who represent all of the classes who make the decisions.
There is only one call. It’s our Leadership Council. They decide at the start of the season what uniforms they want to wear. They have different combinations that they can wear… I don’t really care what they wear as long as the uniforms are prescribed by the university and we wear them accordingly.
I have to admit, this surprised me. Basically what Kelly is saying is the team — or rather the Leadership Council — had decided on the six different uniform combinations before the season started. Or at least, that’s one interpretation. The LC might simply have decided on wearing dark jerseys for those specific games, only deciding upon the full uniform combo as the season progressed. No one pressed Kelly on that specific issue, so we’ll need to just leave it at that. But still, for a University that has been very traditional in its uniform selection, the decision to wear dark jerseys more often before the season began was a bit of an eye-opener for me at least.
How do you feel about LSU’s uniform decisions this year? Should they return to basically wearing their regular gold/white/gold for almost every game, with the purple tops making one appearance for a non-conference opponent, as had been the case for decades? Or should they have some fun with things, and mix up often as they’ve done this year? Were you surprised to find out (as I was) that their multiple dark jerseys this season were pre-planned?
Fire away…
I’m an LSU alum (and a regular reader of Uni-Watch), so I get both sides of this debate. Personally? I love the variety. It’s not like they’re wearing some wild one-offs or really altering the design of the uniform set – it’s all just permutations of nearly the same design in the three school colors. I don’t care for what Oregon does, and I don’t want to see LSU go that route, but I don’t personally see a problem with this at all.
They have a rule they’ve stuck to since I’ve followed them, white at home unless it’s a non conference opponent, with an alternate mixed in usually once a year. I thought that enough alternates mixed in as they usually didn’t repeat looks (though the color shifting purple helmets are a look I wish they would bring back) to satisfy the younger generation who seem to like more alternates. But I guess not. I would rather they stick to who they are and never wear the all white combo again..
I like them.
Variety without taking it too far. (see Oregon)
I would be more fine with the variety if the alts looked good. The standard gold-white-gold and gold-purple-gold are so good that nearly anything else is a step down, even if they’re not awful. And the white outline on the numbers killed the gold jersey for me.
Honestly, my only issue is that I don’t much care for the white helmet. It needs a bit more yellow to feel like an LSU uni. Maybe just fill in the center stripe, thereby matching the white helmet to the white jersey. I also would support adding a purple helmet fulltime. Assuming it still sees limited use and the gold helmet is still worn for a majority of games of course.
I have not, and will not, ever understand why LSU’s regular pants stripage doesn’t match the helmet. It’s enough to make me prefer the white helmet with the white pants.
I have neutral feelings toward LSU and really like them mixing it up. I especially like the yellow jersey. My only major gripe is that the stripe patterns on the white helmet and pants don’t match the stripe pattern on the white jersey. It is just glaring.
Unlike other teams, LSU’s alternates this look decent since they are the same design as the primary, use school colors, and aren’t using mono (except mono white which gets a pass since teams have been mono white forever). So I don’t dislike the alternates. But they feel completely unnecessary since LSU has such a classic and traditional uniform.
And given how they are a white at home team, the few times a year they actually wear purple feel special enough that you don’t need to do other alternates anyway.
The thing I always thought was great about LSU was almost all their games they look the same. By being like the Dallas Cowboys, wearing white jerseys at home, they could go an entire season with one uniform. And their one game at home wearing purple against a non-conference opponent, also was a good tradition. Now they’re like all the other schools.
If I was in charge of LSU’s uniforms, I’d do gold/white/gold for most games, gold/purple/gold for the non-conference games (except the opener, following the old rule), and I’d pick one game a year to mix it up, ideally an afternoon kickoff at home to go white/purple/white.
I’m so happy my team has one helmet, one pair of pants, a white jersey, and a burnt orange one.
Simple and elegant.
Hook ’em!
They’re all great, I attended my first game in 1967, hated that we only wore one uniform a year, The purple jerseys were considered bad luck at that time. Additionally, we need to bring the purple color shifting helmets back, those were completely unique.
My grandmother graduated from LSU in 1937 and regaled me with stories of her time in college– most memorably how the whole student body went to the train station to meet Mike the Tiger (#1) in 1936. I have always loved LSU’s uniforms especially how they wore white at home (mostly). It was something truly unique (at least in my view as a kid in the 70s). I remember loving the switch in 1977 to the new logo, but my grandmother was upset that they dropped the numbers from the 50s and 60s.
So I guess I have been imprinted to love LSU and their uniforms. As a traditionalist, I don’t like all the different combos this season. I am okay with a one off, but wearing the white helmets 4 times is three times too much for me.
Although I’m not a fan of “doing the white helmet thing because everyone else has been doing it”. LSU has a history of wearing white helmets during bowl games. So, they get a bye on that. AND, they never once did not look like LSU. No BFBS/Anthracite. They stuck with the basic design in the school colors.
This is where I am. I am LSU-neutral but I love the school colors and I love their respect for tradition. The gold helmets are classic but white once in a while is fine. I wonder what a purple helmet would look like. All of the colors go well in any combination and they’re all LSU colors.
I could see a purple helmet with a gold/white/gold stripe.
LSU alum and life-long fan here. Hate the white jerseys and white pants with the fury and heat of 10,000 suns. Gold helmets, gold pants, white jerseys and purple jerseys. I don’t mind seeing the purple jerseys more, but I don’t want to see white helmets and white pants ever again. They look like crap and even if they got rid of the gigantic white middle stripe on those, they still suck.
Time for someone in the athletic administration to explain to all of the Johnny-come-latelys (especially the head coach) that we’re LSU and we don’t need more than one helmet and one pair of pants. Alabama had white helmets at various times, but we haven’t seen them in 40 years. That’s where LSU’s white helmets and pants need to go: in the far, far away past.
Absolutely correct.
This is how it’s done. Variety but still traditional in a sense. LSU might have the best uniforms in college football.
More of the purple please. I realize I have no skin in this in any way but to me colored jerseys almost always look better than the white version. Also would be better with the yellow helmet. Sorry but almost always feels like white helmets are just someone being lazy and slapping a sticker on.
LSU alum (class of 1986) here chiming in. And yes, that makes me an old fart, so get off my lawn…
HATE IT.
LSU’s look is not only classic, it’s been voted (nationwide in several polls) as one of the best uniforms in college football. So, I’m not sure why Coach (and I use that term loosely) Kelly decides to come in and change YEARS of tradition and respect, giving the decision of what to wear to the kids via some phony “Leadership Council”. He’s the coach, he’s supposed to be the LEADER of the team; have some respect for the institution and its traditions the way Texas and Alabama do. You let 18-22 year old youngsters with no sense of history (and short attention spans) control the uni selection, you get stuff they think is “fiya” and “badass”… Gerry DiNardo may not have been our best coach, but props to him for petitioning the NCAA in 1995 to allow us wear our white jerseys again (as we did consistently from 1958 to 1982), “bringing back the magic” and the TRADITION.
The simple rule or process that had been in place now for DECADES needs to stay:
1. Gold-white-gold at all SEC home games.
2. Gold-Purple-Gold for non-conference home games EXCEPT:
— home opener
— ranked or Power 5 opponent
3. Different alt can take the place of Gold-Purple-Gold just ONE time each year