Point Counterpoint: What to make of UConn football’s new red jersey

UConn football made waves on Wednesday by revealing a new red alternate jersey. It’ll be the first time any team at the school has ever worn a uniform with red as the primary color.

Reviews have been mixed online. Some people love them — the players certainly reacted positively in a video posted by the team — but those who don’t have been vocal in their displeasure. That same split occurred among The UConn Blog’s hierarchy with Dan Madigan supporting the new look and Daniel Connolly among the opposition.

Let’s embrace debate.

Connolly: I’d rather have a team go bold and fail when designing a jersey or uniform than do something that’s safe but boring. UConn absolutely went bold with red jerseys, which I can respect. I’m just not sure I like them. As someone who’s been clamoring for an alternate jersey for years, I was thrilled when the team teased such on social media earlier in the week. But when I saw the reveal, I was immediately disappointed. It just doesn’t look like a UConn jersey. I’m willing to reserve judgement until I see them on the field in game action, but I’m giving them a thumbs-down for now.

Madigan: When UConn teased this reveal earlier in the week, I told our blog chat with Dan and Aman Kidwai that I would love to see a red jersey, but I was convinced that this would be the light/powder blue uniform they teased last April Fool’s Day. I was pretty surprised to actually see the red jersey on socials on Wednesday, but I like the look. This uniform template of the past few years is quite literally as boring as it gets — there’s no piping, striping or accents anywhere — so it’s a lot of red and it’s certainly bold. It’s definitely not a subtle way to introduce the color, but I think it will look much better in real life on the Rentschler Field grass. I still wish there was more going on with these UConn uniforms overall, but I am all for this red look, and I think it will look great if they ever pair it with navy helmets and navy pants.

Giving the people what they want 😤 pic.twitter.com/7bTHTowYr4

Connolly: My favorite color is red — anyone who knows me even a little is well-aware of that. Having said that, I don’t think UConn should use it as a primary look. I think it’s great as a secondary or tertiary color — the women’s soccer team’s jerseys from the Rachel Hill era remains a favorite of mine — on a uniform that’s mostly national flag blue or white. Again, maybe this football jersey will grow on me when I see it in action and I’ll want more teams to adopt red uniforms. But I just don’t think UConn when I see that much red.

Madigan: Jim Penders may disagree, as the UConn baseball coach famously loves his Huskies in national flag blue and white, but I think red should be involved. I wouldn’t mind seeing more red jerseys in other sports, especially basketball and hockey. It’s part of the color palette, so it’s fair game in my opinion. UConn football has worn gray before (famously in its big win over Houston in 2015) and the men’s basketball team has (rather infamously under Dan Hurley) worn gray and black. The women’s team used to rock pretty sweet gray uniforms at the XL Center and crisp whites at Gampel. The precedence is there to mix it up, and I think more red would be a great modern look for all of the teams.

Side note: There is not a more perfect UConn uniform than the women’s soccer one Dan mentioned. It’s a very clean look, and the red really ties it all together.

Connolly: This is something we can certainly agree on. UConn football needs a new look. In fact, that’s been the case for a long, long time.

The Huskies’ current set isn’t bad, it’s just boring. It’s not very fun to play with UConn on EA Sports’ College Football video game franchise because the uniform options are so limited. There’s only so many times you can mix-and-match the color of the helmet and pants. These are at least a slight upgrade, though. The previous uniforms were both bad and boring. They looked like the first option that comes up in create-a-team.

But isn’t college football supposed to be fun? That’s what defines it from the NFL — the history, the pageantry, the tradition, the different styles of play. The sport’s popularity is centered on being more entertaining outside the lines than its professional counterpart. UConn’s uniforms should reflect that.

Madigan: UConn football was a punchline for the past few years before Jim Mora came in and got things relatively back on track. While there is a lot more success in the team’s 20-plus years at the FBS level than the national media is willing to give them credit for, the Huskies are not a college football institution like the likes of Michigan, Alabama and Penn State — three schools with history but also very plain uniforms. There’s no reason for UConn to have such a plain base uniform template. I think the school got so put off by the reaction to the Bob Diaco-era helmets that they played things ultra boring and safe. It’s time to mix it up a little! Even a freshened-up return to the jerseys from the first few seasons in FBS would be a massive step up.

Madigan: I would love to see UConn lean into its past and use the aforementioned early-FBS era jerseys, but updated with red instead of silver/gray. As much as I love the block C, I would love to see the wishbone “C” or bubble script UConn make an appearance on a helmet at some point too. If you’re going to have such a boring uniform, you might as well have some cool helmets, and there is a pretty good historical backlog to pick from.

I wouldn’t mind some more off the wall uniform ideas either. Lean into the Rentschler/East Hartford/Pratt & Whitney connection and throw some jets on some helmets and jerseys. Or loop in the Avery Point campus too and put some nearby submarines on there. Could be a nice tribute for Veteran’s Day, if it is done right. UConn could lean into its agriculture roots and do a cow theme. Ever since Utah State did a cow out at their basketball game, I feel like it could work on a uniform. I imagine it could be a tough sell for the linemen though.

As boring as UConn’s current uniforms are, I do love that the team can theoretically mix and match them in any combination and it all can look pretty good. Now they just need to release the light blue jerseys for real!

Connolly: In an idea world, UConn would have four uniforms: Standard national flag blue home and white aways (where the helmets and pants can be mixed and matched), an alternate jersey (if we’re doing something other than blue and white, I would’ve preferred light blue over red) and a throwback. There’s so much room for creativity there.

UConn has also used a lot of alternative helmet decals over the last few years. It should continue to lean into that and feature a different logo every game. Roll out the standard Husky logo or Block C, but why not throw Hook C on a helmet — if hockey can put it on a jersey, football can use it on a helmet — or the script UConn word mark, or the interlocking UC logo used by the men’s basketball team for years. Why not think outside the box, too? Use the academic logo with the oak leaves. Make a helmet that resembles Gampel’s roof. Do something involving the Dairy Bar. Have a local artist create a design involving an iconic buildings on campus like Wilbur Cross, the water towers or the Jonathan statue (similar to when Navy had hand-painted ships on their helmets for the Army-Navy Game).

It’s not the easiest time to be a college sports fan. Why not use the uniforms as a way to connect with the fanbase and community?

So yes, this is a long way of saying UConn should absolutely slap the derpy Jonathan logo on a uniform.