Welcome Back to Uniformity The dog days of the offseason are nearly over. Arizona State football begins in just two days with anticipation and expectations that haven’t been seen in Tempe in years. Welcome back to Uniformity, everyone! With this being the first game week of the 2025 season, it also begins the 10th anniversary […]
Welcome Back to Uniformity
The dog days of the offseason are nearly over. Arizona State football begins in just two days with anticipation and expectations that haven’t been seen in Tempe in years. Welcome back to Uniformity, everyone! With this being the first game week of the 2025 season, it also begins the 10th anniversary and the 11th season of Uniformity’s exclusive access and coverage of ASU Football’s uniforms! It’s been quite the ride, and we’re only picking up steam from here. Thank you to all of you who have followed along throughout the years, and if you’re new here, get ready to have some fun talking about the uniform side of ASU Football and athletics as a whole!
A year ago at this time, ASU was picked to finish last in its inaugural season as a member of the Big 12, but shocked the college football world by winning the conference and earning its first berth into the College Football Playoff. The leadership of Kenny Dillingham and the player-run team, guided by the Pat Tillman Leadership Council, along with a crop of new talent that bought into the culture this coaching staff has established, has changed the stars for ASU football. They now enter the 2025 season as one of the favorites to contend for a conference title once again. The road won’t be easy, but the pieces seem to be in place for an exciting season.
ASU Athletic Director Graham Rossini has played a significant role in changing the culture, with his influence extending to all sports and the community as a whole. He is finding every avenue to take Sun Devil Athletics to the next level by continuing to seek out the voice of the fan about things like apparel, uniforms, gameday experience, and affordability. He has led the charge to offer more accessible, gourmet food at games, and the parking price reduction from last year remains intact. He has committed to pouring time, effort, and money into the football program because football has the ability to yield the largest return on investment, which will, in turn, help the rest of the varsity sports programs within Sun Devil Athletics. The present is bright. The future is brighter.
2025 Uniform Outlook
After a brief two-year stint, the uniform generation from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, which had pared down the details, has been sunset in favor of an updated set of core uniforms. While those uniforms were more minimalist in nature, the fact that they brought back white outlined numbers on the maroon jerseys was a big positive. Plus, they’ll always be the uniforms worn during the Sun Devils’ magical 2024 run to the College Football Playoff. However, it was time for a change, and the update received is a good one. Check out my article, which covers all the details of the core uniform reveal from a few weeks ago.
The Sun Devils have also teased the possibility of two additional surprise uniforms this season, releasing a video with the shadows of two players that implies they are not done dropping uniform news for the year. With the excitement for the upcoming season, it’s the perfect opportunity to have a bit more variety. That’s all we know of for now, so it becomes a waiting game as to when we’ll learn about what Sun Devil Athletics has up their sleeve.
The Week to Come
Uniform
When the Sun Devils take the field for the first time in 2025, they will do so against NAU, which will make the short drive from Flagstaff to Tempe. The Lumberjacks are preseason ranked in their own right, checking in at #16 in the FCS preseason polls. When the Sun Devils line up against the Lumberjacks, they will continue the tradition that began in 2011 of wearing the traditional gold helmet/maroon jersey/gold pant uniform combination for the first home game of the season.
The maroon jerseys feature gold “Arizona State” print in Sun Devil Bold font across the chest, gold player numbers outlined in white on both the front and back of the jersey, as well as the TV numbers on the sleeves. The sleeves also feature angular maroon fabric accents, symbolizing the rays on the Arizona state flag. A welcome change to this generation of jerseys compared to the prior is that the jersey numbers are fabric rather than printed. The numbers on the new jersey also appear to have a larger vertical format than last season.
The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the gold plain text font reminiscent of previous generations of uniforms, particularly from 2011-2014. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold adidas logo. Near the right shoulder is a maroon and gold Big 12 logo. There is also a gold O2V printed on the inside of the collar, harkening to the final lyrics to the Arizona State fight song, “Onward to Victory.” Last, but not least, at the base of the collar is the black PT*42 shield in honor of ASU Football legend, Pat Tillman.
The pants have been refreshed as well, and they’ve reverted to a more simplified look. Gone is the large, attention-grabbing pitchfork on the right thigh. The gold pants now have a maroon adidas logo on the left hip and a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the right hip.
Helmet
The gold helmet features standard maroon pitchfork decals with gold trim. There is also a two-tone center stripe, which boasts a bold maroon center outlined by thin strips of gold. The facemask is maroon, and the front bumper features a white base with maroon “Sun Devils” text, each letter outlined in a thin gold border. The maroon chinstrap has a small maroon pitchfork with gold trim, while the actual straps are also maroon and have gold Arizona State print.
The decals on the back of the helmet include a transparent Big 12 logo with a maroon border, a PT*42 shield with a maroon border and text honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman, a maroon Warning label which is in the shape of the state of Arizona, features maroon text, and has a small, gold pitchfork over Tempe, and an American flag. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the maroon “Arizona State” text with each letter outlined in a thin, gold border on a white base rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
Maroon and black cleats will be worn for the opening game. From left to right, there are three different types of cleats. The first two pairs are lighter cleats and are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the last pair is worn by heavier players (linemen).
From left to right, the pair furthest to the left is the adizero Electric. It features a maroon sole that reaches upward toward the heel of the shoe. They have a textured maroon base with three gold stripes and an adizero Electric wordmark on the outside of the shoe. The top portion of the cleat features a Primeknit design with a gold adizero wordmark on the tongue, and a maroon adidas logo with a gold outline is located on the instep. It has maroon laces speckled with gold and a maroon heel tab with a gold adizero Electric logo. The next pair is the adizero Impact. It features a gold sole, the maroon base has three gold stripes with mesh texture stylizations on the outside of the shoe, and there is an identical gold three stripe mark on the instep as well. The maroon laces are speckled with gold, there is a gold tongue loop with a maroon adizero wordmark on the tongue, and the cleat also has a gold finger loop on the heel.
The final pair is the adizero Chaos, made for more ankle support for heavier linemen. It has a black sole and base with white mesh stylized three stripes on the outside of the foot, and black laces.
Maroon socks will be worn to match the cleats as well.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear white gloves, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gloves on the top are adizeros which are typically worn by speed position players like wide receivers and defensive backs. The white adizeros feature a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the palm of each glove. They also have three maroon stripes logo on the back of the hand, a maroon adidas logo on the corner of the wrist strap, and a white, tonal adizero word mark on the pointer finger. The gloves in the middle are adidas Freaks, worn by larger skill position players such as linebackers and tight ends. The white adidas Freak gloves feature the same maroon pitchfork palm design as the adizero, three maroon stripes on the back of the hand, and differ by having a maroon adizero wordmark on the white wristband. Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are adidas Freak-Max, which boast extra padding on the heel of the palm meant to withstand all of the contact that linemen endure throughout the course of a game. They are plain white with black padding on the palm, and along with a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also have maroon accents on the knuckles and the black wrist-wrap.
Reaction
It’s a brand-new season, but unlike last year, the team is chock full of returning players, Graham Rossini is over a year into his extremely productive tenure as athletic director, and the football equipment staff leadership remains unchanged. There was optimism for upward movement last year; there’s now a palpable buzz of excitement for what kind of heights this team and program could reach not only in 2025, but for years to come.
With all that is unchanged, the one new development that I am very excited about is that of the new set of core uniforms the Sun Devils will be wearing beginning this season. The return of the team name to the front of the uniform is long overdue, and while the state flag chest piece uniforms that were worn from 2018-2022 were innovative and became well-loved in their own right, nothing beats having the team name across the chest. Though the state flag is no longer on the chest, or on the side of the jersey as it was the past 2 seasons, the subtle, tonal state flag sun rays on the sleeves serve as an homage to the home state as well as the past two generations of uniforms. Another major improvement is that the player numbers are fabric instead of print. Not only does it look more refined, it also reduces glare off of stadium lights. Better still that the numbers remain outlined in white. They make the numbers really pop off of that maroon jersey while providing a sense of old school charm, especially with the return of fabric numbers.
Gloss gold helmets also return, which, along with white bordered numbers, connect the current uniforms to those great uniform looks of the past. There is room for both tradition and innovation in this era of college football uniforms, and ASU is finding that balance beautifully. The only complaint of this whole uniform, however, is on the helmet in the form of the pitchfork decal. The chrome style finish throws off the colorway from the rest of the uniform, and the fact that there is no additional maroon border surrounding the gold spiked trim makes it blend into the helmet, leading the maroon pitchfork to appear very small. The center stripe gives the helmet more overall interest, but much like last year, this generation of standard sized maroon pitchforks with gold trim is poorly executed.
Otherwise, this uniform is a marked improvement and the best generation of uniform overall since 2008. I can’t wait to watch the Sun Devils take the field this season as they look to build on the success from 2024 and climb the rungs of the college football ladder.
Now let’s cheer on Sun Devil Football. Welcome back to Uniformity.
What Color ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
#Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports
That’s right, folks! The Uniformity partnership with Cactus Sports is back. Another season long #faniforms contest will culminate in a grand prize. Much like last year, three #faniforms will continue to be chosen at random each week. They will then be voted upon weekly in a Twitter poll to decide which of those three #faniforms will become a contest finalist. At the end of the regular season, all of the finalists will be entered into a final vote, with the grand prize being a $125 gift card to Cactus Sports! Remember, when posting to Twitter, remember to use the hashtag #faniform and tag the Uniformity Twitter account @ASU_Uniformity.
Category: General Sports
