Nike Pro Combat – just awful

Last year the Nike Pro Combat uniform series was unveiled. In addition to having numerous aerodynamic and performance enhancing qualities, they were the ugliest things in the world.

This website has up close views of each facet of the 2009 series. Each uniform has some interesting features, not necessarily attractive, but interesting. There are some really cool, attractive features too.

The Miami unis, TCU helmets and pants and the entire OSU set up were terrible. But the Florida State pants and Florida helmets were pretty cool.

Unfortunately, Nike liked what they did with the series last year and the brutal uniforms are back for 2010. Check out the site, it is cool. They have a capsule on each team’s look and a close-up view of the uniforms. A nice job by Nike with the site and descriptions.

TCU rolled out in their version against Oregon State. This year’s aren’t as bad as last year. However, the red helmet stripe survived through to this year. This feature was one of the dumbest parts in my opinion. The horned frog pattern that is repeated throughout is cool. But, the overall look is still bad. Thumbs down on the TCU Pro Combat.

Boise State and Virginia Tech both rocked the Pro Combat on Monday. Neither uniform looked good. But parts did. The large Bronco head on Boise’s uniform was sweet. The overall look of their helmets were really cool. But the silver jerseys were truly bad. Virginia Tech’s black helmet and jerseys were cool. Yet, the motherboard look made the helmet stripe and numbers look weird. I would say I am 50/50 on Tech’s and thumbs down on Boise, except for the helmets those get two thumbs up.

Florida’s look is average, the gator-skin look is cool. But the shoulder stripes are useless, in my opinion. The Alabama set up is awesome. The houndstooth motif is subtle and classy. The gloves look badass with the houndstooth and Alabama script together.

Oregon State managed to escape with the most traditional and not ridiculous look of all the teams. Kudos to Nike on that design, it looks good and is a cool spin on the usual threads that OSU wears.

West Virginia and Pitt will wear their Pro Combat for the Backyard Brawl. West Virginia has an ugly set up, sorry, its true. The smudged look on the helmet and numbers is neat. But, the black and gold color scheme is wrong. Not to mention the shoulder numbers are pretty bad. As for Pitt, they don’t have a bad look overall. The helmets are cool, as are the numbers. The shoulders and pants aren’t so good. But, I don’t mind them, I suppose. We will see how they look on the field.

Again, the Ohio State look is a monumental failure. The 2009 look was ugly and this one is no different. The jersey is boring and ugly. The red helmet has no personality. However, the inspiration for the uniform is impressive.

Last, but not least is The U. The green helmet and two-toned numbers are ugly. As are Miami’s terrible orange jerseys. The rest of the design is ugly, if you hadn’t got the hint before this sentence.

So, there are a small features of the uniforms that I like. But, Nike digs too deep in attempting to create these new identities. I think if they turned back the intensity on some of the features the Pro Combo look would be awesome for each team. Completely overhauling each team’s look, like Ohio State, doesn’t work – at all.