After several days of suspense, Texas A&M revealed the much anticipated Adidas Techfit uniforms at Rudder theatre Thursday to be worn for the Aggies debut SEC season.
The design of the uniforms, met with a largely positive reaction by those in attendance, was inspired by the A&M uniform design of the 1970s wishbone era. The uniform features several alternates including all-maroon, all-whites and mixtures of the two colors. The helmet color and finish is unique to A&M and is considered an anodized maroon rather than a matte or metallic look.
Mark Daniels, director of football at Adidas, said he was happy with the product Adidas designed and the feedback from students to the A&M coaches.
Im thrilled with the product, Im thrilled with the response to the product from the students and the coaching staff, Daniels said. Weve got the best technical jersey in the game but weve now got a great look for A&Ms SEC debut.
The presentation of the jerseys at a packed Rudder theatre contained many of Aggie footballs most recognized names. Chace Murphy, the PA voice of Kyle Field, facilitated the show as juniors Jonathan Stewart, Ryan Swope, Sean Porter, Caleb Russell and Christine Michael modeled the uniforms for the crowd.
Responses from the players, like Porter, were unanimously positive.
We love the uniforms, we love the helmets especially. We like that flat color because we were in those shiny ones for so long. Its just good to have a little change, Porter said. Weve got the stripes and the SEC logo, I think were ready to go.
Also among those in attendance were former quarterback and No. 8 overall NFL draft pick Ryan Tannehill and his wife Lauren. The most highly drafted signal caller in A&M history said he was fond of the new look.
I like the uniforms, I wish we couldve worn them our last few years here, Tannehill said. They did a great job of showing some history and including the Texas logo since were going to be representing Texas in the SEC.
Jason Cook, vice president of marketing and communications for A&M, said he was pleased with the buildup leading up to the unveiling and the response of current players.
This may be one of the best kept secrets in college football. In sports today there arent many secrets, but we succeeded with a big unveil. It was a great day for Texas A&M football, Cook said. There were a lot of our current players in the stands and you could hear how excited they were about it. To me that says mission accomplished.