May 24, 2012
Given the recent trend of alternate uniforms in college football, Arizona's announcement Wednesday of a new uniform addition was less surprising than the actual product being announced. That product: a copper helmet.
Here's the picture from Arizona's website:
As you can see, the copper look (besides bearing some resemblance to that of the Arizona Rattlers) is distinctly recognizable and also diverges from the matte-black look that was started at Oregon but has spread to numerous other schools, including the one in Tempe that happens to be UA's biggest rival.
Athletic director Greg Byrne made the helmet announcement in a press release, explaining the decision to go with copper as follows:
“Copper is not only associated with our great state’s mining history, but it has influenced architectural design on our campus, including our athletic facilities – most notably the ring at the top of the McKale Center, and the future North End Zone Football Complex. As such we embrace the idea that as the University of Arizona we will incorporate copper into a special helmet design to represent our state and University."
As Byrne mentioned, copper has a historical connection with the state of Arizona, which makes this a much more thought-out uniform tweak than those at most schools, which often cede the design power to Nike and Adidas to come up with something "different" that doesn't always look good or make much sense.
The opinion here is that the red-and-blue "A" logo looks a little strange on a copper background (perhaps going with a white or black logo on just that particular helmet would make for a better look?), but the concept of creating something that has a meaningful idea behind it and creates a little buzz among the fan base -- something ASU spent big money on last year with a major marketing campaign to roll out its new uniforms -- was a good one. Byrne has shown repeatedly of late that he knows how to market the program; this is just one minor move that helps retain a little momentum from the Rich Rodriguez hiring and the ongoing stadium renovations.
The football program has gone back and forth between the white helmet and the blue one in the past few years (both have been the regular helmet at times in the past decade), so in terms of recognizability, the UA headwear isn't exactly Michigan's or Notre Dame's or even USC's. Byrne also clarified at the end of his press release that the copper helmet "will be worn on a limited basis," so plan to see the standard white helmets the large majority of the time. No concerns about switching every week.
As for exactly when they'll first be used in action ... well, if the school is looking for maximum exposure for the new lids, the Week 2 home game against defending Fiesta Bowl champ Oklahoma State would be a good choice for a debut. If the goal is maximum fan hype, there's always the season finale against the Devils and their assortment of new threads.
Speaking of the Devils, the uniform blog "Uni Watch" posted on May 18 that a photo of an ASU copper helmet "began circulating last night." Here's the picture of that helmet, which looks legitimate and features more of a pewter-y copper. The obvious question: Did UA beat ASU to the punch?
The rivalry never rests.
-- Matt Swartz
