With Tennessee introducing several new uniform combinations for the football program over the last few years, the debate regarding Tennessee’s traditional look versus its modern look has raged on across social media and inside Tennessee fans’ households.
Some fans opt for more of the traditional side of the conversation, saying that the Vols’ colors of orange and white should be portrayed to their highest ability each time they walk on the field. If the Vols are home, it’s orange on white. If the Vols are on the road, it’s white on white, or maybe white on orange.
Then you have the fans who are more open to the changes. These fans love the traditional orange and white look, sure, but also enjoy seeing different twists that give Tennessee a new and fresh look on the football field. Some may be for or against each new iteration, such as Tennessee’s Dark Mode uniforms or throwback Smokey Grey uniforms, but the overall sentiment still rings through.
Those are all examples of conversations taking place outside the program. That being said, there’s still one more place to look – inside the program.
According to Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel on Wednesday, the Vols’ Dark Mode uniforms are for much more than just debates amongst fans.
“Our guys love it,” Heupel said on Wednesday. “First of all we love wearing the orange-and-white but to be able to twist it up a little bit, I think these guys have some fun with it.”
Heupel’s words on Wednesday echo his thoughts on the alternate uniforms dating back to the first time that Tennessee debuted the modified Dark Mode uniforms during his first season in 2021.
“Oh man, I felt like a nighthawk,” former Tennessee receiver Velus Jones Jr. said with a big laugh after the first time he wore Tennessee’s Dark Mode uniform.
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Let’s rewind the clock a little bit. Facebook really got the engine running around 2008. Twitter, meanwhile, launched in 2006 and hit 200 million active users by 2012. Instagram launched its operations in 2010 while TikTok began running in 2016. All of that goes to say that the players that Tennessee has on the roster or are looking to bring to the program are Generation Z. The players have been around social media and the internet their whole lives and most are into the look, style, and swagger of wearing top-notch uniforms on national television programs.
It’s all about branding in today’s world.
Hello, Deion Sanders and Travis Hunter.
So while fans may like or not like certain uniforms that Tennessee is wearing, the Vols’ decisions are being made to keep their current players lifted and entice future prospects to the program.
“They do enjoy being able to wear those and, again, it’s a part of recruiting too for us,” Heupel said on Wednesday.
Need an example? Here’s one.
Four-star running back commit Peyton Lewis committed to Tennessee in May 2023 but posted a new graphic to his social media this week that showed him in Tennessee’s Dark Mode uniform.
“This 2 tuffff!!” Lewis wrote.
This 2 tuffff!!🍊@Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/SnHoPnDmLY
— ᴘᴇʏᴛᴏɴ”ᴘ”ʟᴇᴡɪs② (@peytonlew2) September 28, 2023
Moral of the story is this: Long live the uniform debate, but know why they are doing what they’re doing.
No. 21 Tennessee will wear the all-black Dark Mode uniforms this Saturday night against South Carolina at 7:30 p.m. ET.
⚫️𝙄𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙈𝙤𝙙𝙚 ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/QwOCv818aa
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 25, 2023
2 Responses
Not a fan of the alt uniforms, but one every now and then would be ok. This is five games, five different uniforms.
Guys don’t pick a school because of their “alt” uniforms. As for recruiting, a good example, you ever see Bama in an alt uniform? Didn’t think so. Hasn’t affected their recruiting…at all!
To put in a way Chandler Bing would say it, “Could Joe be more right about Bama NOT needing alternate uniforms to get top recruits and win multiple championships. Same for UGA. Yes they have the 1 black alternate jersey that I have not seen them wear since maybe 2021 or maybe 2020. However, UGA are 2x defending national champs, and they didn’t wear that black jersey 1 time last year, going undefeated. So, why do we, The Tennessee Volunteers, need anything more 1 white helmet, 1 orange & 1 white jersey, white pants and a pair of orange pants? That gives us 4 options of uniform combinations to go along with our long tradition of 🟠&⚪️. Is that not enough for Heupel to recruit with? You know what gets top recruits to commit? WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS! The best of the best recruits don’t give a **** about alternate uniforms if the team is winning championships. 🟠&⚪️ ONLY❕