Things have been a bit different since Kalen DeBoer took over as Alabama’s head coach. However, don’t hold your breath when it comes to the Crimson Tide switching up its headgear anytime soon.
During Wednesday’s SEC teleconference DeBoer was asked about the possibility of Alabama donning different color helmets in the future. While the head coach didn’t completely rule out the idea, his response didn’t inspire optimism for anyone hoping to see a new look on the field.
“Just the tradition and everything that surrounds the crimson helmets, that hasn’t even been something I’ve even thought for a second about,” DeBoer said. “There’s just a lot of pride in who we are. I’m sure that somewhere in the history you can point to different colored helmets being worn, and maybe someone is for that. Right now, we’re just keeping the focus on the main thing, and that’s our play on the field and representing the crimson helmet the way we can in the best way possible.”
Alabama donned white helmets with red stripes during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. They also went with the look a few times in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
DeBoer’s previous teams have donned specialty helmets. At Washington, the Huskies departed from their traditional gold head gear for both a purple helmet and a chrome helmet. DeBoer’s Fresno State team wore white helmets and blue helmets along with the traditional red.
DeBoer pointed out that the switch at Washington was part of a previous uniform agreement. The Huskies are sponsored by Adidas. No such agreement is in place with Alabama and its sponsor, Nike.
Perhaps that will change in the future, but at the moment it doesn’t look likely.
“A lot of these things, they don’t happen overnight either,” DeBoer said. “I’m not trying to lead on like I’m even thinking about it, but sometimes it takes a year just to get a jersey or the gear that you wear on the sidelines.”
No. 10 Alabama will don its classic crimson helmets and crimson jerseys this weekend as it hosts FCS foe Mercer on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
