2023 Uniformity – Week 1: Sun Devils Wearing Traditional Opening Look
Welcome back, everyone! It’s a new season with a new coach, new hope, and new uniforms. That’s right, new uniforms. The best-looking team in college football is set to take Frank Kush Field eight times this season, which will give ample opportunity for the incredible Sun Devil equipment staff to dig into their creative bag. I will be there to detail these uniforms for Uniformity’s 9th season, 5th with Devil’s Digest. I’m beyond excited to bring the latest in Sun Devil aesthetics for another season on the finest news and recruiting site in Sun Devil Nation.
Last season, the theme was a creative use of decals.
There were many great looks throughout the season, highlighted by the large Sparky face.
It was a great pleasure to cover these inventive looks and celebrate the pride of maroon and gold; however, it is now time to move on to a new chapter of ASU Football uniforms.
Sublimated State Flag Uniforms, 2018-2022
Before we look ahead to the season to come, let’s take a quick look back at the base uniforms that the Sun Devils have donned for the previous 5 seasons. The sublimated state flag has been a fixture on the chest of Sun Devil football uniforms, becoming one of the more recognizable features of a college football uniform. It is a more simplified design than what had been worn in years past, eliminating an identifier on the chest of the uniform but still featured an ASU letter mark on the back of the collar. This is one of the longer stints one uniform style ASU has ever had. The last time one uniform style stuck around that long was Nike’s capped sleeve style from 2004-2008.
The Week to Come
New Season, New Everything
As the 2023 season begins, there are many aspects of the Sun Devil Football program that are new. New coaching staff, over fifty new players, new challenges, and new uniforms. Kenny Dillingham was hired and immediately injected new energy into the program, bringing a lifelong passion and association with Arizona State University into the position. He immediately hired a slew of coaches with high school coaching history within the Copper State, further bolstering the commitment to the community within the staff. He also brought in many new players who are excited to play with a passionate staff.
Dillingham’s early months have not come without challenges, however. He was hired under the cloud of the ongoing NCAA investigation regarding alleged recruiting rules violations that took place during the COVID recruiting dead period. To add to the challenges, the team was notified this past Sunday morning that the school will be self-imposing a postseason ban. That news was met with the expected disappointment by fans, but the coaching staff and players showed their character and mettle as they handled a difficult situation with integrity and grace with post-practice comments that day. Because there is now, suddenly, no chance of any postseason, these young men are playing for each other and for all of us this season. I implore everyone reading this to set aside their feelings concerning this ban decision when it comes to supporting the team itself. These players have worked hard and earned the right to have support from the community. It is time to band together to be there to root them on to as many victories as possible in 2023.
Now, let’s talk some uniforms.
Uniform
When the Devils take the field against Southern Utah, they will keep with tradition. Since the 2011 rebrand, the Sun Devils have always made sure to wear their traditional gold helmet/maroon jersey/gold pant uniform combination for the first home game of the season, and that tradition will continue in this 2023 season.
This new generation of uniforms still makes use of the Arizona state flag; however, it is no longer sublimated on the chest. It is instead a stripe feature on either side of the uniforms. It is a dark gray with the rays leading up and fading into the armpit, the star around the base of the rib cage, and the river block running downward and eventually fading towards the waist. In a move towards an even more simplified design, adidas has opted not to include any identifying letter or word mark on this new generation of uniform. Another update comes on the uniform numbers. The outline of gold player numbers on standard maroon jerseys have been black since the 2009 season. Now, for the first time in 14 years, the standard maroon jerseys feature gold player numbers outlined in white on both the front and back of the jersey, as well as the TV numbers on the sleeves.
The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the gold Sun Devil Bold font. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold Adidas logo, newly updated to a more simplified three stripes design without any word mark. Near the right shoulder is a maroon and gold Pac-12 shield. Finally, at the base of the collar is the black PT*42 shield in honor of Sun Devil Football legend Pat Tillman.
The gold pants have a large gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the right thigh and a maroon adidas logo near the left hip.
Helmet
The gold helmet features standard maroon pitchfork decals with gold trim and a thin maroon border. This is a departure from the chrome maroon and gold scheme that was trotted out last season. There is also a two-tone center stripe which boasts a bold maroon center outlined by thin strips of gold outlined again by even thinner strips of maroon. The facemask is maroon, and the front bumper has a white base and maroon “Sun Devils” text with each letter outlined in a thin, gold border. This replaces the PT*42 front bumper, which has been a staple for many seasons, but fear not, PT*42 still has an excellent presence on the helmet.
The maroon decals on the back of the helmet include the Pac 12 shield, the Warning label which is in the shape of the state of Arizona, featured maroon text, and has a small, gold pitchfork over Tempe. Here, we also see that this is where the decal homage to Sun Devil Legend Pat Tillman has been moved. Rather than a front bumper, a maroon and gold PT*42 shield now occupies space on the back of the helmet. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the maroon “Arizona State” text with each letter outlined in a thin, gold border on a white base rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
Maroon cleats will be worn for the opening game. From left to right, there are three different types of cleats. The first four pairs are a mix of AdiZero and Freaks, and the last two are Nastys. The AdiZero cleats are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the Freaks have a hybrid element and can be worn by mid-size players (fullbacks, linebackers, and tight ends), and the Nasty cleats are worn by heavier players (linemen).
From left to right, the pair furthest to the left is the AdiZero. It features a gold sole and textured maroon base. It features white seams with maroon stitching along each side of the shoe as well as down the middle and up the tongue where a maroon AdiZero word mark. The outside of the shoe features three gold adidas stripes towards the toe, while the inside of the shoe features a gold digital scribble design around a large gold AdiZero word mark. It also features maroon laces. The next pair is the AdiZero primeknit. It features the same characteristics as the AdiZero, with a few distinct differences. The sole is a slightly different shade of gold and has a more sateen finish. The main body of the shoes is a more breathable primeknit material, and the maroon laces also have gold thread woven in.
The middle pair is the Freak 23 Inline. The Freak has a gold sole and primarily gold base with a repeating maroon starburst pattern and three gold maroon stripes on the outside of the shoe towards the toe. The tongue, ankle, and laces are all the same maroon fabric with gold thread woven throughout. There is also a maroon finger loop with a gold “Freak” and an adidas logo on the heel.
The Final two pairs are adidas Nasty models, made for more ankle support for heavier linemen. The second to last pair is the Nasty Fly. It is a primarily maroon shoe with a gold sole, gold adidas logo on the inside of the heel, and three adidas stripes that feature a gold border as well as a maroon and gold chevron pattern within the stripes. The shoe has a maroon zipper and a gold finger loop with a maroon “Nasty” word mark on the heel. It also has a maroon finger loop on the heel. The last pair is the Nasty Torsion. It features many of the same design elements as the Nasty Fly, with a few differences. It is a heavier duty shoe with even more ankle support. It has a maroon sole and a gold rubber sole seam that surrounds the entire bottom of the shoe except the toe.
Maroon socks will be worn to match the cleats as well.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear maroon and white gloves, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gloves on the top are AdiZeros which are typically worn by speed position players like wide receivers and defensive backs. The maroon gloves feature a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the palm of each glove. They also have gold vent specks and a gold adidas logo on the back of the hand, gold seams around the wrist, and gold lining around the maroon wrist strap, which features the AdiZero word mark and a gold arrow. The gloves in the middle are adidas Freaks, worn by larger skill position players such as linebackers and tight ends.
The maroon adidas Freak gloves feature the same maroon pitchfork palm design as the AdiZero, gold seams around the wrist, a gold adidas logo on the back of the hand, and a maroon mesh with small gold holes. Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are adidas Freak-Max, which boast extra padding on the heel of the palm meant to withstand all of the contact that linemen endure throughout the course of a game. They are plain white with black padding on the palm and along with a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand; they also have gold accents on the knuckles and the black wrist wrap.
Reaction
116. That’s the number of maroon and gold uniforms that will be filled by players this Thursday. Walk-ons. Scholarships. Transfers. Fifth-year seniors who have been at ASU their whole career. And everything in between. There are 116 young men who have entrusted a new, young head coach in Kenny Dillingham and his staff. They have put in work during the hottest Arizona summer that I can remember in my entire life as a native of this state. They have bought into a culture and system. And then they had the goal of a postseason unceremoniously ripped from them.
However, their resolve has not seemed to budge. Coach Dillingham has not waivered on his intensity and dedication to winning now. They handled the self-imposed bowl ban better than the administrators who thrust it upon them in the 11th hour before the beginning of the season and better than the fan base and media, who reacted swiftly and emotionally. That’s not to say that such a reaction was not warranted, but the character and mettle of these young men ought to make the rest of us take notice and double down on our support of this 2023 Sun Devil team.
There’s a lot of “different” going around this season. Sun Devil Stadium has been renamed Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. Arizona State is set to join the Big 12 after this season concludes. And, of course, different uniforms. So let’s talk about those.
Overall, they still look good. You can’t really go wrong with maroon and gold. Yet, there are some things I don’t love. The most glaring and obvious thing that I and many others will take issue with is the lack of any identifying text anywhere on the uniform. When the last generation of uniforms removed identifying text from the chest in lieu of the sublimated Arizona state flag, there was still at least an ASU identifier on the back collar. This uniform has nothing of the sort for the first time since the 70s.
There are different shades of gold throughout the uniform. The helmet is one shade of gold, the adidas and Pac-12 logos are a paler shade, and the gold numbers on the chest and back have a flame pattern that intentionally has varying shades in it, ending with the pants, which are the closest to matching the helmet. It’s a rough look for those who take notice, and I know plenty of you reading take notice.
The movement of the state flag from the chest to a subtle accent on the side of the uniform is an interesting choice, but I don’t hate it. I think it’ll play well in live-action, and it will look good in side-shots during live-action on TV.
Let’s talk about those numbers. The flames within the numbers are an interesting choice. They aren’t very noticeable. Getting a good picture of them to really bring out the pattern was difficult. Instead, they come off as somewhat uneven and have a bit of glare reminiscent of the shiny numbers on the uniforms adidas provided when ASU made the switch from Nike in 2015. One thing I absolutely love is the white outline. When the black number outline landed on the uniforms in 2009, it muted the uniforms a bit. The white outline has a very classic collegiate look to it and really makes the numbers pop off the dark maroon jersey. The revert back to the white outline is the big winner for me.
The return to the large pitchfork on the pants is another head scratcher. It takes away the ability to easily mix and match different elements as it is a very bold statement. ASU has also traditionally looked best with more simplified pant designs.
From afar, though, I believe these will look great. The white outlined numbers will truly be the most noticeable element for those in attendance, and even on TV, unless there’s a close zoom. It will harken back to the days of Rudy Carpenter, Andrew Walter, Jake Plummer, Kyle Murphy, Keith Poole, and Pat Tillman. The most pure ASU home uniform color combination around. These players are going to look great.
To conclude, I bring a call to arms to this fan base. Bring your support. The name of the stadium may technically be different, but that grass still belongs to Frank Kush, and his spirit flows through this Arizona-laden coaching staff, and their spirit is rubbing off on these players. Many members of this staff have bled maroon and gold for as long, or longer, than those who are reading this article at this very moment. That’s a lot of passion in the building, and that passion is put into practice as they overcome the hand they’ve been dealt by inspiring their players on a daily basis. But that’s what it really comes down to. The players. The individuals who fill the uniforms that I write about weekly. We owe it to them because this year is 25% of their total eligibility to play football, and that time is not to be wasted. Let’s give them all we have as they will for us.
Now let’s cheer on Sun Devil Football. Welcome back to Uniformity.
What Color ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
#Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports
That’s right, folks! The Uniformity partnership with Cactus Sports is back. Another season long #faniforms contest will culminate in a grand prize. Much like last year, three #faniforms will continue to be chosen at random each week. They will then be voted upon weekly in a Twitter poll to decide which of those three #faniforms will become a contest finalist.
At the end of the regular season, all of the finalists will be entered into a final vote, with the grand prize being a $125 gift card to Cactus Sports! Remember, when posting to Twitter, remember to use the hashtag #faniform and tag the Uniformity Twitter account @ASU_Uniformity.
