FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas football team will begin the 2012 season with a new look.
The Razorbacks introduced their line of Nike Pro Combat uniforms Wednesday, including an alternate charcoal gray jersey and a pants color called “anthracite,” and two helmet choices.
Arkansas will open its first season under John L. Smith with three different jersey and pants colors - cardinal red, white and anthracite - along with its traditional red helmet and a new white helmet. The new designs allow for 18 different combinations.
“Nike has done a tremendous job with the new design,” Smith said during a video presentation on the school’s website. “It’ll be a lighter, tighter and cooler design that helps us perform better.”
Arkansas, which last underwent a jersey change to open the 2010 season, tried to keep a traditional feel while also appealing to prospects, Athletic Director Jeff Long said.
“I think overall we’ve been very conservative in what we’ve done with our uniform here,” Long said on the video presentation. “We’ve made it cutting edge, we’ve made it futuristic somewhat, but at the same time we stayed conservative. We have not gone wild with it.”
Arkansas players Knile Davis, Cobi Hamilton, Tyler Wilson and Tenarius Wright modeled the new uniforms on the video, though some of the images had leaked out and were available on the internet in the past week.
“I think it’s a great look. It’s a great fit,” Davis said in a university release.
“I think it will draw a lot of recruits’ eyes when they see a uniform like this,” Hamilton said.
The jerseys feature a new font for the numbers, a jagged metallic “Razorback” accent line over the shoulders, and a team slogan “ring the bell” stitched on the inside neckline.
“When we ring the bell, it’s when we achieve our personal best,” quarterback Tyler Wilson said. “By putting it on our jerseys, it reminds us that, hey, we’re going to achieve our personal best.”
The jersey material is the latest lightweight four-way stretch nylon.
“It really stays lighter, drier for the players for a longer term, which wicks the moisture away, keeps them cooler,” Arkansas equipment manager Chuck Hall said on the video. “It’s just a performance-based synthetic that is so much better than what we used to have here.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/14/2012