K-State Q&A: Why aren’t alternate uniforms a priority for Wildcats football team?

8-10 minutes 7/21/2023
There are few things I enjoy more than a good question about Kansas State football uniforms.
It is perfect fodder for this weekly mailbag.
When will the Wildcats debut their next alternate jersey? What do you think they will look like? Will we ever see lavender on the football field? How about a new helmet or pants or logo?
The questions have been rolling in for years, and they will almost certainly continue until we see K-State actually embrace alternate uniforms on the gridiron like most other teams across the country. In the meantime, I will happily continue to answer them.
Unfortunately, it seems like we may be in for a long wait before we see the Wildcats roll out a new line of alternate uniforms. K-State football coach Chris Klieman was asked about the topic last week at Big 12 Media Days and he made it clear that new uniforms are the opposite of a priority.
“I don’t you know whether or not you can say I’m a traditionalist or Gene (Taylor) is,” Klieman said, “but we’re not going to have lavender uniforms this year. Gene sure isn’t going to have black uniforms this year. I want (it to be that) — whatever we’re going to be in — we’re going to be successful ... and the kids are just worried about playing. Last year, that worked out pretty dang well.”
If that quote isn’t enough to make you give up the dream of purple pants or chrome helmets, let me also direct you to a recent story from the athletic department on football equipment manager Al Cerbe in which he more or less described alternate uniforms as the devil.
From the article: “As a traditionalist, I don’t ever want to open a season with anything but a traditional uniform, unless the order comes from (athletic director) Gene Taylor or Coach Klieman. I will never have us wear anything different for KU. I don’t believe in it. I probably won’t do anything different against a Texas or OU, or anything else. College football is tough. You can’t really say, ‘This will be a great game, let’s throw out our alternates.’
Translation: You can ask all you want about alternate uniforms, but you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for them.
For the record, I strongly disagree with that line of thinking. K-State should absolutely experiment with the occasional alternate uniform. Just look at how popular lavender has become with basketball. New football gear always sells like hotcakes.
Unfortunately, college football coaches are a superstitious bunch. Klieman was gung-ho about new uniforms when he first arrived in Manhattan and pushed for some minor alterations in Year 1. But the Wildcats lost every time they tried something new.
They wore white helmets against Baylor ... and lost 31-12. They wore “Cats” on their helmets against West Virginia ... and lost 24-20. They tried an all-white look for the Liberty Bowl ... and lost 20-17 against Navy.
Last year, K-State tried white helmets with throwback logos against Tulane and lost 17-10.
A winless record in alternate gear sure makes those classic Bill Snyder uniforms look good to the coaching staff, even though I would argue they have nothing to do with anything.
I would strongly suggest that K-State try an alternate look in its season-opener against Southeast Missouri State to break the uniform curse and then go from there. Too bad it looks like that isn’t going to happen.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
My dream team for Kansas State basketball would be ...
Point guard: Jacob Pullen.
Shooting guard: Rodney McGruder.
Wing: Wesley Iwundu.
Stretch Four: Dean Wade.
Center: Michael Beasley.
My only concern with that lineup is age. Beasley and Pullen are both past their prime. It wouldn’t take much to convince me that Markquis Nowell, Nijel Pack or Barry Brown would be a better fit.
If I dropped Beasley from the starting five I would probably go small with Wade at the five. That way, I could play Xavier Sneed or Keyontae Johnson at the four.
Non-negotiable: Will Spradling would be my sixth man.
Truth be told, I haven’t been to many PGA Tour events.
I have watched the Valero Texas Open a few times in San Antonio. Saw Tiger Woods there when he was fresh out of Stanford and people chased after him like he was the Pope. But I think that’s about it.
My editors have sent me to the Wichita Open on the Korn Ferry Tour and the NCAA national championships, which were both fun events to cover. But they’re nothing like one of the four majors.
There are only two majors I really want to see.
The Masters is on my bucket list, because Augusta National looks amazing and the tradition there is unmatched. I would love to see that venue up close just as much as I would like to see the golf.
Let’s rank it No. 1.
The British Open would also be amazing, because you get a trip to Europe out of it and the golf is just so different.
I would go to the U.S. Open, as well, but it’s a distant third. The PGA Championship means very little to me. I would rather check out the Waste Management Open in Phoenix or the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
I doubt there is enough star power or interest in any college athlete for Saudi money to come pouring into a NIL collective.
So far they have spent most of their money on golf and soccer. If basketball or football become targets I would think they would go after NBA and NFL players.
One thing that really impressed me about the K-State football team in Arlington, Texas, was the fact that none of the players showed up wearing their championship rings.
Maybe I am reading too much into the significance of that decision, but it told me that these guys are focused on next season more than what they accomplished last season.
That isn’t always easy to do. If I was Will Howard, I would wear that thing at every football event I attended. I would want to show off my success and rub it in on everyone else in the conference.
But he didn’t do that. Neither did Daniel Green or Kobe Savage or Cooper Beebe.
This team wants to take over for Oklahoma and Texas as a kingpin in this conference, and it can’t do that by getting fat and happy off its past accomplishments.
Again, maybe I am overreacting to that and it doesn’t mean much of anything. But I took it as a positive signal that this team means business.
A few other things I learned:
Kobe Savage fully recovered from his knee injury more than a month ahead of schedule.
Will Howard is way bigger than his fellow Big 12 quarterbacks.
The Wildcats are excited about the long-term future of linebacker Austin Romaine and the short-term potential of Uso Seumalo.
There’s no replacing Deuce Vaughn, but there is quiet optimism that the offense will be just fine with Howard and Collin Klein back for another year together.
Ben Sinnott could be an All-Big 12 tight end, which is a great sign for him but a negative for K-State’s jumbled room of receivers.
Replacing three NFL defensive backs could be more of a challenge than some suspect.
I don’t have much to report about the overall mood of the event. There was understandably lots of energy from the new members. They were happy to be there. But Oklahoma and Texas didn’t seem eager to leave.
It should be an entertaining season.