Perhaps more than you wanted to know about Georgia Tech’s new uniforms:
1. The Adidas' Primeknit A1 jersey is a seamless garment. Adidas senior production manager for football apparel Cam Collins said that it is "literally knitted out of yarns in a tube. And it seems very tight, but it stretches, and it's super flexible so it fits our players' bodies like a glove. But it also allows them, even though it's tight, it allows them full range of motion, so it feels like they're not wearing a uniform."
The new design will be worn by 13 Adidas schools this fall.
Also, Collins said, the pants were completely reconstructed.
“Traditionally, football pants have a gusset – they have two seam lines down the center,” he said. “We removed those. We went with bonded pockets for an overall cleaner look.”
2. While the jersey is seamless, it also is constructed of different types of fabric. The abdomen area is made up of a mesh fabric for breathability while the chest of the jersey is made of a more durable knit.
There also is a chevron pattern on the chest that “features silicon grip patterns on the shoulders to lock pads in place,” according to the Tech news release.
3. Former B-back Zach Laskey's favorite element of the jersey: The sleeves are tight and cropped, allowing for more exposure of players' arms, particularly their musculature.
“I put a lot of work in during the week so I can make my arms look good,” said Laskey, who may or may not still own a tank top that reads “Sun’s out, guns out.”
4. The "number fill" – the fabric used for the numbers – is a pattern made especially for Tech. It's called "Swarm Pattern." According to the Tech news release: "The 'Swarm Pattern' inside the numbers is a unique creation by Adidas for Georgia Tech – representing the pattern found on the body of a yellow jacket."
Said Collins, “It’s a very subtle detail, but that’s what really puts us over the top.”
5. There's also a nod to the Tech mascot in the stripes, which taper off into a point. It's supposed to evoke a yellow jacket's stinger. They're called "Stinger Stripes."
Coincidentally (or not), Tech’s new word mark has a similar feature. In the mark, the G, R and H all have points in the serifs, which are intended to call to mind the yellow-jacket stinger.
That the word mark and uniform have that commonality was a pleasant revelation for athletic director Todd Stansbury, who didn’t see the uniform until Friday night at the launch. Part of Stansbury’s motivation in re-branding the athletic department is to refine the branding elements to make them more consistent.
The repetition of the stinger motif was not by accident. The athletic department’s ideation team helped develop the new word mark, which was completed early last fall, and made the stinger reference a prominent part of its discussions with Adidas.
6. The road uniform – white jersey, blue numbers, white pants – also is called the "Whiteout" uniform. It will be worn – with the white helmet – for Tech's white-out game against Miami on Nov. 10.
Collins said that Adidas is working on a third, alternate uinform, but he wasn’t sure if it would be completed in time for use in the 2018 season.
7. Collins said that "I probably looked at every uniform" Tech has worn in trying to get a sense of the team's design history.
“We looked through numerous uniforms to see what was received well, what looks did we kind of like the most as a brand, what looks Georgia Tech – equipment, academics and obviously football – what looks resonated with them the best,” Collins said. “And then we take the information and obviously use that when we were ideating around what our version of Georgia Tech would look like.”
Collins saw a photo of an 1890s Tech player wearing a white sweater with a large “T” on the chest (there is such a photo in the media guide) that caught his attention.
“I was like, that uniform’s pretty freaking sweet,” he said.
It may one day surface as an item for sale.
8. The white helmet with the gold interlocking "GT" has a place in Tech's history, as it has been worn at different points in the team's past.
The picture below was from the 1971 season. At other times, Tech has worn white helmets with stripes down the middle and no decals or with small stars on the sides.
Tech wore similar helmets for its throwback uniforms worn in 2006.
9. Another new feature, and a fairly simple one, is the interlocking "GT" on right hip of the uniform pants. The jerseys also have the same logo at the top of the chest.
