Why can't Pitt have 2 color combinations?

[Sean Miller Fan]

I like that the script is back and I like the throwback colors. However, I'm not sure it makes a ton of sense to go back to them permanently. Here's why:

- Royal blue and yellow sell well, even outselling navy and vegas gold from what's been rumored....but navy and vegas STILL sell. If we go back to royal and yellow, there would be no longing for navy and vegas and you eliminate that income source

- As a fan who wears a lot of Pitt clothing, I like having more Pitt colored-options other than navy, vegas, white, or gray. By having 6 colors (7 if you count black), you give fans more choices and more reasons to buy.

- If you go the royal and yellow permanently, what becomes the "cool" alternate uniform that people, especially players and recruits get excited about....and why couldn't you do that (ie Midnight Panther unis) anyway

If it were me, I'd keep the navy and vegas primary scheme but have the following wardrobes for the 12 games:

7 home
4 navy and vegas
2 royal and yellow
1 ultra-cool uni per year (like Midnight Panther, all yellows with a royal helmet, etc)

5 road
4 navy and vegas
1 royal and yellow

I see no reason why we cannot switch up our uniforms/color schemes like Oregon......not to the point where we have 10 different uniform sets but have enough variety where we arent wearing the same combo each game.

 

[HailtoPitt]

We essentially do have two color combos, three if you could the official school colors.

 

[Cathedral Lawn Frisbee]

It is preposterous to think we can have multiple unis.

Kinda like surviving a nuclear attack using this technique.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The combinations are endless.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

Go with the 1976 colors, the logo, the numbers, the helmet. Great colors for both regular clothing and sports gear alike, but not a clone of ND and Navy. The blue is close enough to navy that it is tasteful. The gold is close enough to yellow that it has synergy with the Heinz seats that will never change, but its not that neon retina-burning yellow like our throwbacks were last year (the kind of yellow normal adults would never wear in regular life). But most important they're closest to our true school colors and the colors associated with our most recent greatest season and player.

The Dorsett SI cover from 76 is there to go by. Just give it to Nike and all our other merchandisers and say "this." Why so difficult?

 

[3genpanther]

I like that the script is back and I like the throwback colors. However, I'm not sure it makes a ton of sense to go back to them permanently. Here's why:

- Royal blue and yellow sell well, even outselling navy and vegas gold from what's been rumored....but navy and vegas STILL sell. If we go back to royal and yellow, there would be no longing for navy and vegas and you eliminate that income source

- As a fan who wears a lot of Pitt clothing, I like having more Pitt colored-options other than navy, vegas, white, or gray. By having 6 colors (7 if you count black), you give fans more choices and more reasons to buy.

- If you go the royal and yellow permanently, what becomes the "cool" alternate uniform that people, especially players and recruits get excited about....and why couldn't you do that (ie Midnight Panther unis) anyway

If it were me, I'd keep the navy and vegas primary scheme but have the following wardrobes for the 12 games:

7 home
4 navy and vegas
2 royal and yellow
1 ultra-cool uni per year (like Midnight Panther, all yellows with a royal helmet, etc)

5 road
4 navy and vegas
1 royal and yellow

I see no reason why we cannot switch up our uniforms/color schemes like Oregon......not to the point where we have 10 different uniform sets but have enough variety where we arent wearing the same combo each game.

While I'm probably in the minority since I'm not stuck in the 70's / 80's, I completely agree with this.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Go with the 1976 colors, the logo, the numbers, the helmet. Great colors for both regular clothing and sports gear alike, but not a clone of ND and Navy. The blue is close enough to navy that it is tasteful. The gold is close enough to yellow that it has synergy with the Heinz seats that will never change, but its not that neon retina-burning yellow like our throwbacks were last year (the kind of yellow normal adults would never wear in regular life). But most important they're closest to our true school colors and the colors associated with our most recent greatest season and player.

The Dorsett SI cover from 76 is there to go by. Just give it to Nike and all our other merchandisers and say "this." Why so difficult?

Nah. Hell that season, our uniforms where so JV like, some had names, some didn't, some had yellow piping around the numbers, some didn't. I like the stripes. I think the sharpest unis where during the Marino/Green era.

 

[paulbl99]

I like that the script is back and I like the throwback colors. However, I'm not sure it makes a ton of sense to go back to them permanently. Here's why:

- Royal blue and yellow sell well, even outselling navy and vegas gold from what's been rumored....but navy and vegas STILL sell. If we go back to royal and yellow, there would be no longing for navy and vegas and you eliminate that income source

- As a fan who wears a lot of Pitt clothing, I like having more Pitt colored-options other than navy, vegas, white, or gray. By having 6 colors (7 if you count black), you give fans more choices and more reasons to buy.

- If you go the royal and yellow permanently, what becomes the "cool" alternate uniform that people, especially players and recruits get excited about....and why couldn't you do that (ie Midnight Panther unis) anyway

If it were me, I'd keep the navy and vegas primary scheme but have the following wardrobes for the 12 games:

7 home
4 navy and vegas
2 royal and yellow
1 ultra-cool uni per year (like Midnight Panther, all yellows with a royal helmet, etc)

5 road
4 navy and vegas
1 royal and yellow

I see no reason why we cannot switch up our uniforms/color schemes like Oregon......not to the point where we have 10 different uniform sets but have enough variety where we arent wearing the same combo each game.

Royal blue and yellow aren't the school's colors.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

It is preposterous to think we can have multiple unis.

Kinda like surviving a nuclear attack using this technique.

I remember those drills from the early 70's.

 

[Burgh15]

I really don't think it matters what the team wears on the field. I've seen professional and college gear in other colors, gray, black, pink, camo and people seem to buy it. As long as the logo or team name is on a product and it's a good looking product, it's marketable no matter what the uniform looks like.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

Nah. Hell that season, our uniforms where so JV like, some had names, some didn't, some had yellow piping around the numbers, some didn't. I like the stripes. I think the sharpest unis where during the Marino/Green era.

Funny, I recall the Marino/Green (into the Fralic) era as the ones that were all over the board, some jerseys were tear away, some were not, some bold font names on the back, others with thin letters, and I recall thinking THEY were the cheap amateurish ones... like this pic...I suppose this could have been a B/G Game and not an actual game, but WTF with the two OL in totally different shirts AND pants?

Either way, I really won't be swayed that this isn't the best look.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

And totally appropro to nothing related to this thread or any other, when I was searching Google images for the above pics, this one came up randomly, and I just thought it was a wild picture...from a Salt Lake City newspaper of all things...

 

[H2Pittisit]

You need to understand Branding to understand. Not a good look to have multiple shades of blue and gold. Pick an identity and go with it. Preferably one that differs from others, so you are unique

 

[DruidTM]

Pitt has an identity that they are going with for crissakes....

It's the darker blue with the gold.... that's it

Royal blue and yellow are THROWBACKS....

Some of you guys keep saying " why is it so difficult?"..., you are now MAKING it difficult...

its TWO options.... that's not different nor is it at all confusing or overblown especially in today's college football environment.... most teams have more than home and road as their only looks... and Oregon has about 197 or so...Pitt has 3 helmets.. they all look great.

It's Because some will never accept anything other than throwback ALL the time despite the fact it would likely get old fast if every Pitt item including gear you buy as fans were that scheme....personally the official (since the school made it official its "officially official ") colors look better on hats and shirts... it's less garish and cartoonish....

Look throwback is fun I get it I like it too...but please quit acting like this is giving you ulcers....

It's NOT difficult AS IT IS NOW

We do need a new Panther head though

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

Pitt has an identity that they are going with for crissakes....

It's the darker blue with the gold.... that's it

Royal blue and yellow are THROWBACKS....

Some of you guys keep saying " why is it so difficult?"..., you are now MAKING it difficult...

its TWO options.... that's not different nor is it at all confusing or overblown especially in today's college football environment.... most teams have more than home and road as their only looks... and Oregon has about 197 or so...Pitt has 3 helmets.. they all look great.

It's Because some will never accept anything other than throwback ALL the time despite the fact it would likely get old fast if every Pitt item including gear you buy as fans were that scheme....personally the official (since the school made it official its "officially official ") colors look better on hats and shirts... it's less garish and cartoonish....

Look throwback is fun I get it I like it too...but please quit acting like this is giving you ulcers....

It's NOT difficult AS IT IS NOW

We do need a new Panther head though

It's the overall mix compounded over years that are still out there that makes it cartoonish. As others note, even Pitt's own stores have a bizarre array of old and new. It's one thing to go into Dunhams and see 4 shirts with four different logos and color combos of the past decade, including some of the forlorn panther head and torch cut variety ... but another story when the same thing is in the Pitt Shop or Pete store ... many still asking full price yet.

I dare say Pitt itself should at least eat its own dog food. Pick one classic look and one throwback look, sell only merchandise with those. Ship the rest of the junk to the starving Bantu in Gambia our wherever they send merchandise such as Nashville Predator NHL Champs shirts that can't be sold. Take a write off. Don't help proliferate the mish mash of looks polluting the populace.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Funny, I recall the Marino/Green (into the Fralic) era as the ones that were all over the board, some jerseys were tear away, some were not, some bold font names on the back, others with thin letters, and I recall thinking THEY were the cheap amateurish ones... like this pic...I suppose this could have been a B/G Game and not an actual game, but WTF with the two OL in totally different shirts AND pants?

Either way, I really won't be swayed that this isn't the best look.

Well we were still obviously cheap.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

You need to understand Branding to understand. Not a good look to have multiple shades of blue and gold. Pick an identity and go with it. Preferably one that differs from others, so you are unique

It's all about branding with one home and one away uniform that everyone will identify as PITT! That makes it in college sports!

The next key is for PITT football to make the fans like the brand so they want to buy it and everything it represents!

There's no identify/brand if a team has too many uniform color combos!
You want people to turn on the TV and say PITT is on not what team is that oh its PITT who those are strange uniforms!

 

[upj87]

I like that the script is back and I like the throwback colors. However, I'm not sure it makes a ton of sense to go back to them permanently. Here's why:

- Royal blue and yellow sell well, even outselling navy and vegas gold from what's been rumored....but navy and vegas STILL sell. If we go back to royal and yellow, there would be no longing for navy and vegas and you eliminate that income source

- As a fan who wears a lot of Pitt clothing, I like having more Pitt colored-options other than navy, vegas, white, or gray. By having 6 colors (7 if you count black), you give fans more choices and more reasons to buy.

- If you go the royal and yellow permanently, what becomes the "cool" alternate uniform that people, especially players and recruits get excited about....and why couldn't you do that (ie Midnight Panther unis) anyway

If it were me, I'd keep the navy and vegas primary scheme but have the following wardrobes for the 12 games:

7 home
4 navy and vegas
2 royal and yellow
1 ultra-cool uni per year (like Midnight Panther, all yellows with a royal helmet, etc)

5 road
4 navy and vegas
1 royal and yellow

I see no reason why we cannot switch up our uniforms/color schemes like Oregon......not to the point where we have 10 different uniform sets but have enough variety where we arent wearing the same combo each game.

Did you receive your mustard and blue ascot award for your 500th uniform related post from the Lair yet?

 

[RaleighPittFan]

It's all about branding with one home and one away uniform that everyone will identify as PITT! That makes it in college sports!

The next key is for PITT football to make the fans like the brand so they want to buy it and everything it represents!

There's no identify/brand if a team has too many uniform color combos!
You want people to turn on the TV and say PITT is on not what team is that oh its PITT who those are strange uniforms!

I think I finally figured out what Pitt has been attempting for the last decade - poor man's Oregon.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

I think I finally figured out what Pitt has been attempting for the last decade - poor man's Oregon.

With our suspensions and injuries we could call ourselves the Sitting Ducks?

Headline:Oregon Ducks' football uniforms sticking to 'more traditional colors' in 2017

Looks like they want to be PITT?

 

[DruidTM]

Living in Georgia I can state neither the Bulldogs nor Yellowjackets have matching colors or better looking gear.... in fact the Bulldog stuff looks like high school and GT has far worse color matching and consistency across the board than Pitt... not even close. I think some people are suffering from some form of self loathing due to changes over the years.... honestly I think looking at official sites like the Pitt shop the Pete store etc Pitts gear looks damn sweet.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Living in Georgia I can state neither the Bulldogs nor Yellowjackets have matching colors or better looking gear.... in fact the Bulldog stuff looks like high school and GT has far worse color matching and consistency across the board than Pitt... not even close. I think some people are suffering from some form of self loathing due to changes over the years.... honestly I think looking at official sites like the Pitt shop the Pete store etc Pitts gear looks damn sweet.

Can you give some examples of the Georgia Bulldogs gear not matching? They are red and b lack and the logos I have seen from them have been pretty consistent. They've used the same helmet and logo for over 50 years.

 

[DruidTM]

It's all about branding with one home and one away uniform that everyone will identify as PITT! That makes it in college sports!

The next key is for PITT football to make the fans like the brand so they want to buy it and everything it represents!

There's no identify/brand if a team has too many uniform color combos!
You want people to turn on the TV and say PITT is on not what team is that oh its PITT who those are strange uniforms!

Again 3 is too many?

I simply reject the premise.... it's absurd... I've never had any problems determining if Pitt was playing... the large script logo (on all helmets) clears it up ... the ticker in the corner saying " Pitt" is the back up plan for the less astute viewers.... this simply isn't difficult.... friggin Norte Dame and Ohio State have the same number of options and no one has any trouble figuring out who's playing? It's ridiculous....

 

[DruidTM]

Can you give some examples of the Georgia Bulldogs gear not matching? They are red and b lack and the logos I have seen from them have been pretty consistent.

I'm talking about shirts hats etc you see in stores... it's out there and yes I've seen it. And GT has some really awful rubbish out there... which sucks because I pull for GT over UGA not a popular view in this state believe me

 

[HailtoPitt]

Nike just completed their study. Since a portion of the fans prefer the 70s blue, another portion prefer the 80s blue, and another portion prefer the current blue, Pitt will now wear tri shade blue units with no other colors. Gold and white are gone. Get ready!

Blue also refelcts the rich history of the Pittsburgh area, with the different hues of blue that could form in the sky due to the operation of steel mills. In addition, Pitt fans are also often feeling blue after big games.

Also, there will be a hammer on the helmet now, to reflect steel being molded, Bla bla bla. That's how the results will go.

 

[HailtoPitt]

I'm talking about shirts hats etc you see in stores... it's out there and yes I've seen it. And GT has some really awful rubbish out there... which sucks because I pull for GT over UGA not a popular view in this state believe me

I think just about every school has some issues with the clothing lines, and I don't know what all they offer in Georgia, but in terms of branding it is like night and day comparing Pitt and Georgia. I think of Georgia as being red and black with that G logo on their helmet. I know they probably have other bulldog logos and images, but their primary logo and colors have been consistent. At least that is my perception. GT seems to be less consistent, but I recall them wearing the same helmet for a long time, with the honeycomb throwback worn occasionally. Part of the issue with Pitt are the near constant changes and tinkering, and almost no other schools do that. But at Pitt... we know better than everyone else.

 

[Swervin27]

I like our alternate unis last year, the ones a lot of you mistakenly refer to as our "throwbacks" as what they are, alternative unis, nothing more. They look nice, mainly because they are significantly different. You go this way will all unis, they'll get old fast. the blue is way to bright, WAY too bright but I still like them for a game or two.

what annoys me is how the athletic dept got all official with their color scheme, releasing the pantone gold color and then two days later, unveiling their new uniforms and the gold was nowhere near what they just released as the official color. I mean why go all official with this only to contradict yourself 48 hours later..

In a perfect world, they go back to the mustard and dark blue, not that midnight blue that looks black like they have now and get rid of the bright ass metallic gold look, it sucks. Penguins gave up on it, now follow them, they know what they are doing.

 

[Swervin27]

actually, the more I look at the unis last year, the blue im ok with. just darken those bright gold pants a bit, put a stripe on them and go with the alternate unis twice a year and im good.

 

[DruidTM]

I think familiarity breeds contempt.....the uniform (all 3) are only in year 2....Pitt should leave it where it is. It's a good look that I think rationally tries to appeal to traditionalists and recruits....lie the blue helmets... they also just came up with the number scheme tying to the cathedral of learning arches... that makes 1000 times more sense than the torchcut steel garbage and gives Pitt a unique number system.... BC...WVU ...Oregon many others have unique numbers so I like Pitt having their own... plus the half helmets stripe..it's unique like the Steelers single logo on one side.

People gotta give this stuff a chance but I see knee jerk complaining

 

[HailtoPitt]

I like our alternate unis last year, the ones a lot of you mistakenly refer to as our "throwbacks" as what they are, alternative unis, nothing more. They look nice, mainly because they are significantly different. You go this way will all unis, they'll get old fast. the blue is way to bright, WAY too bright but I still like them for a game or two.

I disagree. They look nice because they look nice, not because they are significantly different.

 

[BigZeke]

I like our alternate unis last year, the ones a lot of you mistakenly refer to as our "throwbacks" as what they are, alternative unis, nothing more. They look nice, mainly because they are significantly different. You go this way will all unis, they'll get old fast. the blue is way to bright, WAY too bright but I still like them for a game or two.

what annoys me is how the athletic dept got all official with their color scheme, releasing the pantone gold color and then two days later, unveiling their new uniforms and the gold was nowhere near what they just released as the official color. I mean why go all official with this only to contradict yourself 48 hours later..

In a perfect world, they go back to the mustard and dark blue, not that midnight blue that looks black like they have now and get rid of the bright ass metallic gold look, it sucks. Penguins gave up on it, now follow them, they know what they are doing.

Only Pitt would ignore a marketing windfall by choosing not to wear the Throwbacks against their long-time rival in a national tv game that highlighted the return of a game that hadn't been played in 20 years. Instead choosing to unveil the Uni's against the milquetoastian Yellow Jackets later in the season. Pitt continues to be their own worst enemy and I shudder to think about what they will run out of the tunnel wearing against State Penn on the 9th.

 

[HailtoPitt]

I think familiarity breeds contempt.....the uniform (all 3) are only in year 2....Pitt should leave it where it is. It's a good look that I think rationally tries to appeal to traditionalists and recruits....lie the blue helmets... they also just came up with the number scheme tying to the cathedral of learning arches... that makes 1000 times more sense than the torchcut steel garbage and gives Pitt a unique number system.... BC...WVU ...Oregon many others have unique numbers so I like Pitt having their own... plus the half helmets stripe..it's unique like the Steelers single logo on one side.

People gotta give this stuff a chance but I see knee jerk complaining

This is the problem though. Pitt constantly comes up with something new and different, instead of just giving fans what they want. And then when fans complain, we need to 'give it a chance'. The cathedral font is something that consultants come up with to justify doing their jobs. It's a nice idea, but not what people want. Same thing with the torch cut. It sounds like a nice idea, but nobody wanted it. And the dinoseal... not even sure how that epic failure could have been developed. This is college football, not some fast food restaurant.

When the PG praises something Pitt does, it should tell people something/ PG: "Pitt's throwback football jerseys are beautiful"

USA Today: They are a "thing of beauty".

Fox Sports: "Spectacular"

Sporting News: "Perfect"

PSU and WVU fans: 'Why the heck isn't that your uniform'

Fans voted them better than the Miami throwbacks on ESPN.com

The worst I have seen about them is that they are "among the best".

Dear Lord, how much more evidence do people need? Pitt has been told this for 20 years now. And we get what, 2 throwback games in that entire period. Even the Penguins changed back after less than 10 years of their newer logo. Unbelievable.

 

[DruidTM]

PSU was sold out months ahead.... no reason to break them out GT wasn't but they wanted a good turn out..,

It made PERFECT marking sense to do what they did.... you guys would lose money hand over fist if you were in charge...

The all blue looked great vs the marshmallows....

 

[DruidTM]

Honestly the GT decision was a no brainer from a marketing perspective...

As for options... that's the world we live in ... there's no aspect of life not affected by people's desire for options.... whether it's coffee types...running shoes... or even the latest kid trend spinners.... heck you can't go to a bagel or donut store without a bunch of choices... having said that Pitt boiled it down to three uniforms....it's not confusing at all

Dino seal or torchcut aren't on the same plane to me at all those were just bad.

 

[DruidTM]

Be thankful our hat options aren't this

Or This

At least today we have a single font

 

[HailtoPitt]

PSU was sold out months ahead.... no reason to break them out GT wasn't but they wanted a good turn out..,

It made PERFECT marking sense to do what they did.... you guys would lose money hand over fist if you were in charge...

The all blue looked great vs the marshmallows....

See, this is a big problem with Pitt's thinking process. They think of the throwback unis as a way to get more people into a game that isn't sold out, when instead those unis should be thought of as a way to display how nice they are to as many people as possible.

 

[Jpripper88]

Royal blue and yellow aren't the school's colors.

That doesn't matter. At all.

 

[DruidTM]

Both throwback games were on TV here in Ga....they wanted more butts in seats... from a business perspective they were completely right... and the games being televised got plenty of attention because it got written about nationally...

Sorry but no Pitt got this absolutely right

 

[HailtoPitt]

Both throwback games were on TV here in Ga....they wanted more butts in seats... from a business perspective they were completely right... and the games being televised got plenty of attention because it got written about nationally...

Sorry but no Pitt got this absolutely right

Yes, if the game being televised were the reasoning then I agree with it, but I think their reasoning is butts in seats.

 

[DruidTM]

Yes, if the game being televised were the reasoning then I agree with it, but I think their reasoning is butts in seats.

I'm sure butts in seats it was which is why is was a smart move... the tv was only a bonus.. and the write ups nationally came from it being televised and people seeing them....

I don't understand the complaints on this one bit...

PSU never made sense....

Like I said familiarity.... Pittsburghers love to complain about damn near everything