Let’s Talk About Jumpman
Is Oklahoma athletics moving their apparel deal to Jordan Brand? Rumors have begun to swirl about a possible imminent move for OU from their current athletic supplier Nike, to their sister brand Jordan. If you’ve been paying attention to some of our tweets and graphics over recent weeks, it’s obvious that we’ve heard the rumors and are excited about the possibility. While just a rumor at this point, we’ll talk about what we know, and what it could mean for the Sooners uniforms.
A History of Jordan Brand & Football
To date, two major college athletic departments have deals with Jordan Brand (outside of basketball-only deals): Michigan and North Carolina. UNC is a no-brainer. It is, after all, the alma mater of His Airness, and the Tarheels hoops squad has worn Jordan Brand for years. Embracing one of the greatest athletes of all time, who just so happened to attend your university, makes total sense for North Carolina.
Michigan on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise. In the summer of 2016 The University of Michigan announced that in addition to extending the partnership with Nike across their varsity sports, there was a new wrinkle: the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and more interestingly, the football team would be wearing Jordan Brand. Plenty of collegiate basketball teams had worn Jordan Brand before, but the fact that the Wolverines would sport the Jumpman on their football uniforms was a first for the brand. Jordan has sponsored a handful of individual non-basketball athletes through the years, but this was the first time the Jumpman would appear on a non-basketball uniform, and not just footwear.
What We Know
In September, rumors began coming out that the Sooners may be heading to Jordan Brand. This timeframe comes on the heels of when the OU equipment staff would have been wrapping up their orders for next season’s gear.
While we have not been able to confirm a move to Jordan Brand with anyone inside the athletic department, there is a lot of smoke with this rumor. We’ve talked to a few second-hand sources, as well as authorized retailers, who have alluded to this change. In the absence of official confirmation, this is mostly speculation, but our gut feeling is that this change is imminent.
In 2014, OU extended their partnership with Nike until June 30, 2024. Guerin Emig of the Tulsa World reports that the previous contract wasn’t set to expire until 2018, but Nike convinced the Sooners to re-up early to the tune of a $4,000,000 “commitment bonus.”
This is why it’s important to note how the Michigan deal was structured. Their athletic department’s partnership was with Nike, but as part of that partnership, the basketball and football teams would be outfitted by Jordan Brand. OU wouldn’t need an entirely new deal in order to bring in Jordan Brand, it could be a revision to their current deal with Nike. It’s possible that this has been in the works since the renegotiation in 2014, but more likely that if true, it was a reaction to Michigan’s deal in 2016.
We’ve already seen a hint of what may be to come with the Oklahoma football team arriving to their 2017 Sugar Bowl game against Auburn wearing custom Jordan Brand “Air Oklahoma” sweats.
Hints from Lincoln?
Speaking at the Citizens Advisory Board’s annual Coaches Luncheon in August, newly minted head coach Lincoln Riley was asked about the future of the Sooners uniforms. As the Norman Transcript reports, Lincoln responded cryptically: “How do we want to answer this?” Riley said. “Is Joe Castiglione in the room right now?”
He continued, “We’ve got some good plans, I’ll put it that way. We’ve got some good plans. There’s a balance with that. I think we’ve even fought that — not fought that — but had to be aware of it as we’ve designed our building, putting a lot of the finishing touches on it right now.”
While not a confirmation of this specific rumor, it certainly hints at change on the horizon for the Sooners. Could the Jordan Brand partnership have been what Lincoln meant by “good plans?” Maybe; but at the very least, it likely means new alternates are on the horizon, with the four-year-old Rough Riders alternates having run their course.
What It Means for OU
While swapping a Swoosh for a Jumpman may seem like an insignificant change to most (I can feel some of you rolling your eyes as you read this), it’s a way for Lincoln Riley and the Sooners to alter OU’s iconic uniforms in one of the most minimal ways possible, while reaping maximum impact with recruits. Jordan Brand continues to be one of the most popular apparel brands on the market since it’s inception in 1984.
Beyond the Jumpman appearing on uniforms and accessories for the Sooners, if Michigan and North Carolina are any indiction, Sooners players could expect lots of exclusive Jordan swag, specifically custom kicks. Off the field gear is just as big of a hit with recruits as the on the field stuff is, and Jordan Brand creates unique apparel that would set the OU apart.
Would anything change?
The short answer: maybe.
The longer answer: both UNC and Michigan made minor changes to their uniforms with the switch to Jordan brand. Michigan introduced a new away jersey design, new white pants option, a new matte finish helmet, and a new number font, and later debuted an all-maize alternate. UNC introduced a new navy alternate. The important thing to take away here is this: Jordan made relatively small changes to customize each team’s identity while maintaining their individual traditions.
If you paid close attention to the tours of the recently completed South Endzone Renovations at GFOMS (or if you follow us on twitter), you may have noticed the emergence of a new font being used throughout the facility.
See it? The font used for the “Oklahoma” on the wall is not the normal Oklahoma wordmark. That font has never before appeared in relation to the University of Oklahoma. And in fact, I’ve never seen this particular font used anywhere before. But it’s everywhere in the newly renovated facilities. Not just the Oklahoma wordmark, but also on the All-Americans wall, the inspirational Bud Wilkinson quotes, and even in the team tunnel.
Nike has a history of creating proprietary fonts for their athletic partners, having done so at a number of schools such as Minnesota, Arkansas, and Baylor to name a few. Could this new font be Nike/Jordan’s handiwork? When comparing it to other bespoke Nike fonts, it has a lot of similarities: asymmetrical serifs, curved counters, and unique characters. While we can’t say for sure, it certainly seems plausible.
It’s 100% possible this font was solely chosen during construction to adorn the walls of the new football facilities. But if that’s the case, why not use the current number font? If I were designing the new football facilities, I would want the fonts to match what’s on the jersey. While the current number font is different from what’s seen above, it’s possible that what is shown is a preview of what’s to come.
What If?
We’ve covered a lot of speculation. So, what would it look like if the Sooners football uniforms switched to Jordan brand next year? What would the Sooners jerseys look like with the new wordmark and number font? Rather than force you to imagine it, we put together some graphics to help you invision it:
As you can see in the mockup above, the casual fan likely wouldn’t notice. While not a huge change, the new number font and wordmark would take some getting used to for the more fine-tuned eye. It has a more modern feel, and is a little wider than the current iteration. However, rather than using an off-the-shelf block letter font like before, it would now be completely unique to the University of Oklahoma.
Now we wait
Obviously, time will tell if all these rumors amount to anything or if they end up like all the “Stoops to Florida” rumors. The potential for the Sooners to be on the forefront of the ever-changing college athletics apparel trend, without sacrificing tradition feels like the right place for them to be, and Jordan Brand could be the perfect partner.
