STARKVILLE — The partnership between Mississippi State and adidas became more evident with the unveiling of the new TECHFIT football uniform for the Bulldogs program’s upcoming games in November.
The announcement culminated the near two year-long process that involved a back-and-forth conversations between MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin and the adidas executives on the design of the product the players will be wearing in a few months.
“I think our staff enjoyed the process,” Stricklin said. “It seemed natural to update the road uniform for the Egg Bowl in all white with the gold. I’ll tell you the all-white Snow Bowl ideas started long before Texas A&M agreed to join the league.”
MSU (4-0, 1-0 in Southeastern Conference) will wear uniforms that honor the historic “Snow Bowl” game versus Texas A&M University at home on November 3. The 2000 Independence Bowl between the two programs where MSU won 43-41 in overtime was a contest where a freak winter storm in Shreveport, La., began just before kickoff and blanketed the field in snow.
The Bulldogs uniform is all white, with silver trim and metallic silver numbers. The helmet is matte white with a large silver metallic bulldog graphic and silver face mask.
“We want fans to understand that the school colors are still the primary in both of these uniforms but with the gold and silver to incorporate the importance of the Egg Bowl and Snow Bowl games,” adidas representative Derek Stucker said. “Today is the best day of my job to see our creation come to life and see the reaction of people’s faces.”
Stricklin referenced the new helmet was based off a design sent to the athletic department office via an e-mail from a fan named Rocky Vaughn, who may be better known as ChillBillyDawg on fan message boards.
“I think that’s a different look in the helmet for Mississippi State but to know that one of fans was able to come up with a design in a e-mail to us and we were able to translate that into a reality makes this very cool for our staff,” Stricklin said. “It’s a direct connection to our fans with this look on the helmet.”
The other uniform that was presented Wednesday was the white uniform for the 2012 Egg Bowl rivalry game against the University of Mississippi. The uniform has gold metallic numbers outlined in maroon, a maroon helmet with gold trim and a base layer featuring a Mississippi State logo on the sleeve, similar to the concept originated in 2011 as the Bulldogs defeated their in-state foe 31-3.
“It’s all about our players and the fact they love the way they look,” Mullen said. “If our players think they look good, they’ll play good. If being in cool uniforms allows any of that to happen easier, then I’m all for it.”
adidas became an exclusive partner with MSU in 2009, and the Bulldogs are expected to continue being one of 13 officially licensed schools to have an all-sport sponsorship with the company including University of Cincinnati, Indiana University , Kansas University, University of Louisville, University of Michigan, University of Nebraska, North Carolina State University, University of Notre Dame, Texas A&M, the University of Tennessee, University of Wisconsin and University of California at Los Angeles.
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