Notre Dame Football Unveils New (Not New) Home Uniform

Today Under Armour began promoting some uniforms from their college football portfolio including Auburn, Cincinnati, Maryland, and Utah. And of course, Notre Dame.

The new 2015 Irish football home uniform isn't all that new but is "virtually ungrabbable" and uses #ArmourGrid technology. Uniform PR-speak below for those interested.

CHANGES?

Not many. The helmet and jersey remain the same as last year. The pants may be a slightly different shade of gold, and the built-in thigh pads puff out a Under Armour logo. The cleats are very similar to the Shamrock Series footwear from last year--and of course the players will have multiple options to wear. The socks remain navy blue but eschew the gold/white stripe at the top from last year in favor of a v-shaped gold/white pattern at about mid-level with an Under Armour logo above.

The base layer shirt is the boldest part of the uniform. Last year Under Armour went with a simple gold/white stripe on the bottom sleeves of a navy blue shirt--a look matched on the football socks and across multiple Notre Dame sports. This year, UA has doubled up those stripes around the bicep with "IRISH" in between and apparel logo below.

Good or Bad?

*Overall, a bit dull of a package but Under Armour hasn't dared to make any big changes yet. For a traditional uniform they've done well.

*There's way too much gold and not enough white to add balance. This is usually why I tend to prefer our road uniforms most of the time. The helmet, gloves, pants, and cleats are all bathing the uniform in gold and take away from the helmet.

*I like that they're balancing a traditional feel (jersey) with a modern feel (base layer). I like the base layer but man are those jerseys boring. The visible stitching on the collar looks like they forget to finish the design--what's so wrong with putting something, anything there? They're probably sticking to the 2-year rule which seemed to be Adidas' plan of not making any tweaks until after a couple seasons. Maybe they'll make a couple changes in 2016. I realize you can't do much on the jersey without losing that traditional feel but there are some areas to make subtle changes--like for example using that simple gold/white stripe around the collar like the women's basketball uniform.

*The full frontal pictures appear to show a mustard gold pants color similar to last year, while the other photos show more of a Vegas gold with light, more metallic and white tones. I covered the color issues back in April and as someone firmly in #TeamMustard I'm interested to see what if any changes were made. The promotional shot below definitely looks like it was made to show a better balance between helmet and pant. The skeptic in me worries about the pants looking washed out.

*As someone who prefers traditional black or white cleats (or using them as dominant base colors) the cleats this year and last year don't really do much for me--but I really just don't like the all-gold look.

*The socks definitely seem like a small step back. The striping will be more noticeable on low-cut cleats but from the front it's just a plain blue sock.