We have known for a while now that North Carolina was hinting at an all-black alternate uniform for the 2013 season. There has been talk and evidence of a black-out type game this season against ACC rival Miami, with suggestions of a black helmet being worn for the occasion and leaving the minds wondering what else was in store. Well, the all-black uniform is coming, that is confirmed. What we did not quite know was that the Tar Heels were ready to make black a more permanent part of their football uniforms.
As you can see, the Tar Heels will have three uniform sets for the upcoming season. The standard home jersey will remain Carolina blue and the away jersey will stay white. The addition of black to the uniform palette though makes the Tar Heels look more like the Carolina Panthers, minus the silver gray helmet. It looks as though the white helmet with the blue logo will be the main helmet now, although the video shown below shows the blue helmet is not going anywhere. The blue helmet also has a black stripe down the middle, which seems rather odd but goes with the rest of the uniform's design. I would imagine the blue and white helmets will be worn about an equal number of times and could easily be interchanged between home and road uniforms.
Then there is the black jersey, which comes with Carolina blue numbering and striping on the shoulders. The black helmet also includes Carolina blue logo and stripe across the top. The matte finish keeps up with one of the newer helmet trends in the country, and looks sharp based off of preliminary photo and video evidence.
The University of North Carolina football team was given a special unveiling of their new football attire for the 2013 season recently, and there were cameras there to grab the reaction of the team during a spring practice meeting. Head coach Larry Fedora said the team had worked hard this spring, and this video was meant as a reward. Check it out (after the jump).
The best part of the video may be at the end, when North Carolina quarterback Bryn Renner breaks out one of the whitest dance moves known to man, The Lawnmower, while sporting the black Tar Heel look. When it comes to white boy dance moves, The Lawnmower is right up there with The Cabbage Patch, The Robot and the Running Man, right?
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the black being added to the traditional home and away look, but then again I'm not the target audience here. It sure has the players excited, and it is a way for Fedora to keep adding his foot print on the program. Adding black keeps inline with the "tar" theme, so it makes sense, but it still looks a little too similar to the Carolina Panthers in my book. Let us know how you feel about the new uniforms by leaving a comment below.
Helmet sticker to Nike Blog.
Kevin McGuire is the host of the No 2-Minute Warning podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
