Florida alternate uniforms labeled ‘best’ and ‘most ambitious’ from last 25 years
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On Saturday, ESPN convened a panel of its writers to break down the best, the craziest, and the worst alternate uniforms college football programs have come up with over the last 25 years.
Florida appeared on the list twice — first for a good reason and second for a not-so-good reason.
The Gators’ 2019 throwbacks appeared in the “best in show” category. ESPN deemed the white pant/blue top/white lid look “simplistic throwback perfection.” The look was a nod to the 1960s-era Florida fits. Dan Mullen’s Gators wore them for an October 2019 game against Auburn.
The 10th-ranked Gators won that game 24-13, blanking the seventh-ranked Tigers in the second half to move to 6-0 on the season and hand Auburn its first loss. Kyle Trask threw for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lamical Perine broke free for an 88-yard touchdown run with under 10 minutes to play to seal the Gator victory.
“Just another day at The Swamp, right?” Mullen said after the game. “You talk about The Swamp as it used to be? This is what The Swamp is, and what we expect it to be.”
At the other end of the list, Florida’s 2017 alternates were deemed “most … ambitious” by the ESPN panel. Here’s how the section was described:
It’s always encouraging when a team is willing to try something new — creativity and boldness are two traits that help make college football fun. That said, not every outside-the-box alternate uniform idea is created equal. We’re not necessarily saying these uniforms are bad, but they definitely were… enterprising.
That’s pretty diplomatic. Florida’s Gator-print uniforms, worn against Texas A&M on Oct. 14, 2017, were plain bad. The entire outfit was colored in a “swamp green” tone. Accents were orange with blue trim. The helmet had the Gator logo on only one side.
Unsurprisingly, they weren’t popular.
And Florida lost wearing them, to add insult to injury. Texas A&M scored 9 unanswered in the fourth quarter to win 19-17 and hand the Gators a second consecutive home SEC loss for the first time in 3 years.
Jim McElwain was dismissed two weeks later.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
