The Auburn Football team will sport a new look this weekend at Beaver Stadium. A look that many fans have been requesting for years.
Since 1984, the Tigers have worn navy facemasks for all but two games in which grey masks were used. For the Penn State game, Auburn took the Nittany Lions’ “White Out” to heart and will sport white cages on the white shells to pair with the white jerseys and white pants typical for the road uniforms.
It will mark the first time that Auburn has worn an alternate uniform of any kind simply for the sake of doing so. Previous uniform tweaks have come with some sort of anniversary or memorial attached.
(image via Todd Van Emst, Auburn Athletics)
In 2007, Auburn celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1957 National Championship team when Vanderbilt came to town for homecoming. The Tigers removed the AU logo from the helmets and swapped the navy facemasks for grey to better mimic what the team wore half a century prior. Auburn also wore white at home for the occasion, as the 1957 team’s white jerseys had the now-familiar Northwestern Stripes but the navy tops were blank.
When Auburn appeared in the Outback Bowl following the 2019 season, the Tigers paid tribute to the program’s first Heisman Trophy winner. Pat Sullivan had passed away from a long battle with cancer in December. The players approached the coaching staff wanting to honor the Auburn legend. The team took the field in Tampa wearing Sullivan’s #7 on the left side of the helmet paired with grey facemasks.
As alternate uniforms continue to become the norm in the college football world, many have wondered when – or if – Auburn would ever jump on the trend. The questions continue to pop up each summer. While many fans embrace the idea of their beloved Tigers wearing more than two combinations, another portion of the fanbase is not interested in changing what is believed to be a perfect design.
When Bryan Harsin was hired in December, the questions about changing the uniforms naturally reappeared. In January, I published an article that went into detail about how much say an Auburn head coach could have in these types of decisions. Turns out, I wasn’t entirely accurate. Harsin apparently saw an opportunity to make a change and the team went and did just that.
https://x.com/AuburnFootball/status/1439208906337697801
While a change of facemask color is ultimately minor, the question now is if this opens the door for more changes to come in the future.
Most of Auburn’s modern coaches have had some handle on the team’s uniforms. Shug Jordan was responsible for the traditional design. Doug Barfield added orange facemasks and orange jerseys. Pat Dye went more traditional and added navy facemasks for the first time. Terry Bowden added orange drop shadows to the numbers. Tommy Tuberville reverted those changes. Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn kept the uniform unchanged during their tenures.
The four different facemask colors that Auburn has worn over the years.
Adding white facemasks into the team’s uniform rotation could be Harsin’s lasting aesthetic impact. Or, it’s the first domino. It’s difficult to know for sure from outside of the program.
If anything, Saturday night will be our first look at a new Auburn football uniform combination that has never been worn before.
The new white facemask is the second change to the Auburn helmet this year. Debuting in April for A-Day, Auburn has stuck with the large two-toned player numbers on the back of the helmet. The Auburn Unity logo has moved to the helmet from the jersey, and the SEC decal was moved to the right side because of that.
UPDATE: Here’s a gallery of photographs from Saturday’s game showcasing the new white facemasks in action.
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