West Virginia unveiled new uniforms over the weekend that pay homage to different eras of Mountaineer football while maintaining a few modern touches.
“In developing our new uniforms, it was important for us to incorporate our rich history and tradition with modern technology,” athletic director Wren Baker said in a press release.
“We also wanted people instantly to recognize that the West Virginia Mountaineers were playing. I believe our design team and equipment staff along with our partners at Nike did a great job with these uniforms.”
The uniforms, which are on Nike’s Vapor F.U.S.E. template, feature the Flying “WV” logo on the sleeves of the navy blue home, white road and gold alternate jerseys for the first time since 2012.
They also include a crescent-shaped stripe on the shoulders, a design that was made famous by the likes of Pat White, Geno Smith, Steve Slaton, Noel Devine, Tavon Austin and Owen Schmitt.
During that era, which spanned from 2007-12, the Mountaineers won three Big East championships and two BCS bowls, including blowouts of Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl and Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl.
The navy blue and gold jerseys prominently display a “Mountaineers” wordmark across the chest while the road jerseys have “West Virginia” – both of which are pulled from their 2022-23 “Country Roads” alternate uniforms – above the program’s custom number font.
All three jerseys are complete with the Flying “WV” inside of a state outline at the base of the contrasting collar, as well as the state motto – Montani Semper Liberi, Latin for “Mountaineers are Always Free” – inside of the back collar.
West Virginia’s new gold pants feature two navy blue stripes – which were a staple under Hall of Fame head coach Don Nehlen from 1980-93, when the Mountaineers appeared in eight bowl games – as well as a Flying “WV” on the right hip.
The navy blue pants, meanwhile, are similar to their 2023 “Country Roads” alternate uniforms, with two gold “Nehlen” stripes on the sides, while the white pants revive a navy blue-gold-navy blue striping pattern from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the early 2000s under Rich Rodriguez.
“We went into the past and brought back some of the best parts of our uniform history that have made this football program so special,” current head coach Neal Brown said.
“We have plenty of combinations to choose from each week and our players are excited for the new look. The key, though, is no matter the pant or the jersey, fans will know it’s the West Virginia Mountaineers on the football field.”
Together with navy blue and gold helmets featuring the Flying “WV” on the sides and white helmets with the same logo as the collar, West Virginia now has 27 different uniform combinations to choose from for this season.
There was just one small change to the helmets, as well, as the Mountaineers dropped the black facemasks that were introduced in 2013 along with a matte finish on the navy blue helmets in favor of a navy blue cage.
For another in-depth look at West Virginia’s new threads or to see the program’s complete uniform history, check out our friend Ethan Dimitroff’s work with the Mountaineer Uniform Database.
