Road Uniforms Will Have 1974 Flavor Comment Count

Brian

Rivals had posted some shots of what purported to be Michigan's road uniforms this season. They controversially(!) featured white pants, and they are a real thing:

Michigan had a brief period in the mid-70s in which they wore uniforms very similar to those. You can see what they looked like (and get your RDA recommended dosage of Keith Jackson) in the introductions to the 1974 OSU game. A wider shot of the pants comes at 1:15:

A better look at the uniforms is available to people willing to watch the infamous Mike Lantry "miss" in 1974:

These are legit throwbacks, so they've got that going for them. I'm not sure how I feel about them yet; it'll be hard to tell until I see the modernized version actually on a person. I think I'll like the jerseys but wish we were going with maize pants.

It is interesting that the instant Harbaugh comes in Michigan wears a clean, actual throwback. One of the many revelations in Endzone—sorry, BRANDON'S LASTING LESSONS—is that a large number of the uniformz folly can be traced directly to the AD, down to the goofy numbers against South Carolina.

Adidas remains responsible for delivering jerseys that tore as soon as the opponents looked at 'em, though.

Comments

Don

August 16th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^

There was already a considerable amount of angst over the yellow "piping" on the unis while RR was here, and If he had gone to the white pants, MGoBlog would have melted down in an epic pant-crapping, "RR doesn't respect Michigan traditions" ragefest.

I don't hate them, but I strongly prefer the maize pants. My main issue with them is that 1974 was a horrifically disappointing season at the end, and the white pants have always been tied in my mind to seeing Lantry's successful field goal being waved off by those criminally incompetent and gutless refs down in Columbus. Third season in a row with 10 wins and no bowl game.

snarling wolverine

August 16th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^

I don't think "disappointing" does the '74 team justice.  It was great team that should have finished the regular season 11-0 if not for the officials blowing the Lantry FG call.  And then it was screwed by the idiotic B1G rule that only one team could go to a bowl.  None of this was the team's fault.  I'm happy to give that team its due.

 

 

 

Quail2theVict0r

August 16th, 2015 at 8:02 AM ^

I like the Maize pants but I don't necessarily hate the white pants. Though, I will say, this is probably my favorite away jersey that we've ever had. The simple white with the fantastic stripes on the arm -- just great. While it looks OK in all white, I think that jersey would pop with the standard yellow pants. But, as you said, whatever -- just win. 

Alton

August 15th, 2015 at 11:23 PM ^

I would be surprised if Hackett made any travel roster for Michigan.  He probably only wore home uniforms. 

Hackett did not play at all in 1974 and 1975, and played 5 games in 1976 as the third string center, all 5 of those games at Michigan Stadium (Stanford, Navy, Wake Forest, Michigan State and Illinois). 

Ah, for the days when the third string center would see the field 5 times in a season.

Unsalted

August 16th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^

A very young Jim Harbaugh was hanging out with the team on a regular basis during the white pants era. Thus, he may have some favorable memories. I didn't like them, but since TV coverage was sparse back then I didn't encounter them often. I was happy when they went back to maize. However, I'll live with them if it make JH a happy camper.

kurpit

August 15th, 2015 at 10:38 PM ^

People probably should be more open to looking inward at their own program when they have jerseys they don't like. It's not like the manufacturers are forcing them to wear things they didn't approve.

uminks

August 16th, 2015 at 2:41 AM ^

The year the uniforms were all maize? I don't mind the throw back '74 all white uniforms. I was in my 3rd season of following Michigan football at age 11. I do remember the tough loses against OSU and OU with the all white uniforms. It would look kind of neat to have maize shirts and blue pants as road jerseys.

wile_e8

August 15th, 2015 at 11:06 PM ^

It is interesting that the instant Harbaugh comes in Michigan wears a clean, actual throwback. One of the many revelations in Endzone—sorry, BRANDON'S LASTING LESSONS—is that a large number of the uniformz folly can be traced directly to the AD, down to the goofy numbers against South Carolina.

This wasn't a given? Adidas had been around for several years with no non-tearing problems outside of possibly shifting the shade of yellow. It wasn't until Brandon got involved that we got uniformz. In the mean time, other schools with competent ADs never had this issue.

BlueInWisconsin

August 15th, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^

Maize pants look fantastic with the blue jerseys, but to me the read unis always looked kind of washed out. I'm all for embracing it and going white on white. It think it makes the helmet pop more too.




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