West Virginia unveiled new jerseys over the weekend that pay homage to various eras of Mountaineer football while incorporating some modern accents.
„In developing our new uniforms, it was important for us to blend our rich history and tradition with modern technology,“ said Athletic Director Wren Baker in a press release.
„We also wanted people to immediately recognize that it’s the West Virginia Mountaineers playing. I believe our design team, equipment staff, and partners at Nike have done a great job with these uniforms.“
Based on Nike’s Vapor-FUSE template, the jerseys feature the flying „WV“ logo on the sleeves of the navy home, white away, and gold alternate jerseys for the first time since 2012.
They also include a crescent-shaped stripe on the shoulders, a design made famous by players like Pat White, Geno Smith, Steve Slaton, Noel Devine, Tavon Austin, and Owen Schmitt.
In this era spanning from 2007 to 2012, the Mountaineers won three Big East championships and two BCS bowls, including victories over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl and Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl.
The navy and gold jerseys prominently display the „Mountaineers“ wordmark on the chest, while the road jerseys feature „West Virginia“ – both from the alternate „Country Roads“ jerseys of 2022–23 – above the program’s custom number font.
All three jerseys feature the flying „WV“ in a state outline at the bottom of the contrasting collar, as well as the state motto – Montani Semper Liberi, Latin for „Mountaineers are always free“ – on the back collar.
West Virginia’s new gold pants feature two dark blue stripes – a staple from the Don Nehlen era of 1980 to 1993 when the Mountaineers appeared in eight bowl games – as well as the flying „WV“ on the right hip.
The navy pants, reminiscent of the alternate „Country Roads“ uniforms of 2023, feature two gold „Nehlen“ stripes on the sides, while the white pants revive a navy-gold-navy stripe pattern from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the early 2000s under Rich Rodriguez.
„We’ve traveled back in time and brought back some of the best parts of our jersey history that made this football program so special,“ said current head coach Neal Brown.
„We have many combinations to choose from every week, and our players are thrilled with the new look. However, the key is that the fans, regardless of the pants or jersey, know that it’s the West Virginia Mountaineers on the football field.“
Along with navy and gold helmets featuring the flying „WV“ on the sides and white helmets with the same logo as on the collar, West Virginia now has 27 different uniform combinations to choose from this season.
There was also a slight change with the helmets: the Mountaineers ditched the black facemasks introduced in 2013 and opted for a dark blue cage instead of a matte finish on the navy helmets.
For a more detailed look at West Virginia’s new threads or to view the program’s complete uniform history, check out the work of our friend Ethan Dimitroff with the Mountaineer Uniform Database.
