WKU to unveil new football uniforms at Big Red Rally

The chrome helmet was unveiled in March. The uniforms displayed July 18 will match the helmet with a futuristic look.

Elliott Pratt

The hire of coach Bobby Petrino in December brought new excitement to the WKU football program.  With a new era in WKU football, along comes a new look.

WKU will unveil new football uniforms for the 2013 season at the Big Red Rally & Reveal at the Greenwood Mall on July 18 at 6 p.m.

Fans at the event will get the first look at the new uniforms and have a chance to meet coach Petrino and assistant coaches to sign autographs from 6:30 to 7:30. Following autographs, a question and answer session will take place until 8 p.m. WKU Cheerleaders, Topperettes, and Big Red will also help bring in the new uniforms at the rally.

The first 500 fans will get a free WKU/Russell Athletic drawstring bag and all fans will have a chance to pick up the new 2013 football schedule poster.

Athletic director Todd Stewart said the new change has drawn a lot of excitement with the WKU fan base.

“There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation from people in terms of curiosity of what they will look like,” Stewart said. “I’ve had people ask for details and background on it.  I say it’s a change that sort of embodies the change we’ve had at the top of our program.”

Three different uniforms will be unveiled that keep the traditional red and white colors, but black has been added to the mix as well.

Football uniforms across the country are trending in a transition from the traditional color schemes to faster designs like the Nike Pro-Combat series. Petrino and equipment manager Drew Hampton teamed up with Russell Athletics to design the new uniforms. Stewart said that Russell Athletics has done a great job of fitting that trend while maintaining tradition.

“There’s kind of a futuristic look to them that matches the helmet, but it’s tastefully done,” Stewart said. “I don’t think it’s anything that people are going to be appalled at. To me it’s definitely a new look, a futuristic look, but it still maintains the traditional colors we’ve always had.”

The new helmet was unveiled in March revealing a reflective chrome finish with a red stripe across the crown, the red towel logo, and a red face mask.

Lindsay Boyden, assistant athletic director of marketing, said the unveiling of the helmet only added to the anticipation of the new uniforms.

“The helmet is completely different than anything we’ve ever had before and everyone said ‘Wow, that’s the helmet. What are the uniforms going to look like’,” Boyden said.  “This is a big event to hold in July to keep the interest of all our fans. The Greenwood Mall is a great location, so we’re hoping to get all of our fans out to this free event.”

WKU changed the football uniforms in 2011 with an aim to go back to tradition said former coach Willie Taggart at the time.

Stewart said despite it only being two years since the last uniform change, this year is a golden opportunity to try something new with the program.

“We’re not going to change our helmet or our uniform every two years – that won’t happen,” Stewart said. “We don’t want to be stale or boring. When the opportunity presents itself to change your look in a positive way I think that’s a good thing.”