It truly is a new era at Oregon under Mario Cristobal and the biggest representation of that just might be in the Ducks’ uniforms. Well, perhaps that’s the lack of uniforms more to the point.
On Wednesday, the school unveiled their set of uniform combinations for the 2018 season and while there are certainly some colorful designs, the most notable aspect of the launch was the fact that there were only four --yep, count ‘em four -- different designs the program will use this year.
Welcome to @OregonFootball 2.0. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/ZYs68OS6tO
— Mario Cristobal (@coach_cristobal) August 16, 2018
Flying toward tradition. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/hGD7FHuVEn
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) August 16, 2018
Reimagine your identity. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/YhGZrpGenk
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) August 16, 2018
Traveling storm. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/LWpPrttiXe
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) August 16, 2018
Oregon Football 2.0. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/TN5JJjdlXF
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) August 16, 2018
“These designs are a representation of Coach Cristobal’s direction for the football program: no-nonsense, discipline, strength and speed,” said Todd Van Horne, Nike’s creative director for football, in a statement. “This uniform reflects those values.”
The school added in their release: “The Ducks continue to zig while others zag; on the field, Cristobal wants to pair Oregon’s speed and explosiveness with punishing, physical play from a mammoth offensive line. Nike looked to amplify that philosophy with uniforms that exude strength and dominance through clean, bold reliance on solid colors.”
So gone are the days where there was a new uniform combination for every single game in Eugene, a “tradition” (if you call it that) that really came into vogue at the program under Chip Kelly. Though the options are more limited in 2018, we certainly can’t say that Oregon went conservative at all with their new look given the big, bold numbering and highlighter colors used.
Still, compared to the past, the program is going down right super conservative under Cristobal based on this.
