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On Friday morning, Bronco Mendenhall tweeted out a picture of the UVA football staff with Fred Scott, Jr., a descendant of the same Frederic Scott for whom Scott Stadium is named.
We had a special guest today, Fred Scott, Jr.!! Family First, last and always! #protectscottstadium pic.twitter.com/o3J4s3B2v1
— Bronco Mendenhall (@UVACoachBronco) June 24, 2016
But tucked into the background of the photo is what caught the eye of the UVA Twitterverse.
Oh. pic.twitter.com/5SLj63PPEa
— Alex Kent (@Billikentt) June 24, 2016
We reached out to the University to ask if those were the planned uniforms for the upcoming season. They responded that the football team frequently receives mockups of uniform concepts from its equipment vendors.
If those are uniforms we may see on the Cavaliers in the near future, they have a decidedly retro look to them. Mendenhall has been known to look to his team’s past to shape its present:
The Cougars once again changed their uniform for the 2004 season, which was mostly just an alteration to the jersey’s shoulders and sleeves. Jerseys sported white shoulders for home games and blue shoulders for road games. Player numbers and two vertical tan stripes were also added to the shoulders and sleeves.
This style only lasted a year before Bronco Mendenhall took the reins of the Cougars in 2005. He changed the colors and style of the uniforms to replicate and pay homage to BYU teams of the past, and even burned the 2004 helmet and jersey as symbolic of a return to tradition.
“(Bronco) wanted to go and re-establish the tradition of spirit and honor. He felt the best way to do that was through uniforms,” Tittle said. “We talk to the players a lot about standing on shoulders of those that come before you and representing the uniform helmet and what BYU football stands for.”
The full story of that episode is spelled out in more detail in Running Into the Wind, the book about Mendenhall’s management style that Matt Trogdon really wants everyone to read.
What say you? Fans of the potential new look (what of it we can see)?