Every so often, rumors kick up that Auburn Football is going to break out a new uniform element for the upcoming game. Whether it’s blue helmets or orange pants, the rumor mills have a track record of being wrong.
As I’ve dug deeper into Auburn’s history, I’ve discovered a few other rumors that only those invested at the time would recall. So I thought we’d put together a running list of many of these rumor mill items from over the years.
2000 – Orange Jerseys vs. Wyoming
The season opener to begin the new century was remarkable for many reasons. Auburn’s beloved eagle flight tradition took flight this Thursday night as Tiger, War Eagle VI, flew from her trainer’s arm in the south endzone to the midfield logo. Running back Rudi Johnson would stamp his way into the hearts of Auburn fans with a three-touchdown night, including a 70-yard run to seal the 35-21 victory over Wyoming.
But before all of that, the rumor mills were running at full speed. For the first time in two decades, it was said, Auburn was going to wear new orange jerseys for the game. The rumors kicked up when Tommy Tuberville asked students to wear orange in the stands for the game during the Wednesday night pep rally. This would effectively start the “All Auburn, All Orange” campaign that stuck for years. Tuberville thought the orange popped in the stands better than any other color and wanted to see the entire crowd involved in building a strong home-field advantage.
Cheerleader Jona Cary stirred things up even further at the pep rally, stating “[Tuberville] had a special surprise planned.” A football player reportedly told Clay that the team would wear orange jerseys with plain, all-white pants.
When the football team came out for pregame warmups, the traditional blue tops and striped pants were being worn. That didn’t matter. They could always change right before kickoff, just like Barfield’s team did all those years before. Right?
Well, as you can imagine, it didn’t happen, earning a place right here on this list.
2006 – Orange Pants in the Cotton Bowl vs. Nebraska
The 2006 season was the first with Under Armour outfitting the athletic teams. When the football team earned the bid for the Cotton Bowl against Nebraska, there was a belief that Auburn would wear orange pants.
The rumors would boil to the point that head coach Tommy Tuberville spoke out against the rumors during a bowl practice media session. “I know there are some rumors out there that we’re going to wear orange pants,” Tuberville said. “I don’t know how that gets started. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to wear the same uniforms – all white.”
Tuberville was clearly a traditionalist when it came to the uniforms. His first act as head coach was to remove the orange drop shadows that former coach Terry Bowden put in place just a few years prior. Tuberville wasn’t a fan of the change and often stated that he wanted Auburn to look like the classic Auburn he and fans knew all along.
Auburn did break out new Under Armour cleats for the game, however. So there was something new on the field.
Auburn’s Kenny Irons leaps over players during the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, Texas, Monday, January 1, 2007. The Tigers defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 17-14. (Photo by Khampha Bouaphanh, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
2010 – All Navy vs. Clemson
A new home-and-home series against an old foe was starting up this season. Auburn and Clemson had faced off numerous times previously, but only twice in the nearly thirty years prior – both in bowl games.
The infamous navy helmet photo from 2010.
Auburn decided to mark the game as a “True Blue” game, encouraging fans to wear navy shirts to the game. Weeks prior to the game, rumors stirred that the Tigers would embody the game theme themselves and wear blue helmets and pants. Those rumors picked up steam when a photo of a navy helmet with Auburn decals was leaked online.
It’s hard to convey how much traction these rumors had. Outlets all over the internet were jumping on board to report the “news.” And it was all for not.
It’s been over a decade since that helmet photo started circulating and it still holds special powers over the Auburn fanbase.
But where did the photo come from? Sources have told the Auburn Uniform Database over the years that the helmet truly existed and the photo itself was taken from inside the Auburn equipment room. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there were 100+ helmets ready to outfit the entire team.
There are always prototype products being sent to teams to entice them with something different. What we don’t know is if Under Armour (or another partner) sent it to the Plains or if Auburn themselves placed that order to see what was possible.
Despite some smoke, there was no fire to the blue helmet and pant rumors. (image via Auburn Athletics)
2010 – New Pants for the BCS National Championship Game vs. Oregon
Auburn became the first Under Armour-outfitted program to compete for a national championship in January 2011. Much of the marketing materials leading up to the game included a subtle change to the uniforms that only eagle-eyed (pun intended) viewers would spot.
A nationally televised commercial featuring a Cam Newton doppelganger was seen lacing his new white and orange cleats in the locker room before a game. The player’s pants were white and striped, but not the traditional striping pattern. The new pants featured the Northwestern Stripes that don the helmet and jersey sleeves. (The matching stripe is something some fans and many non-fans alike want to see changed.)
It didn’t stop there. Under Armour had a pop-up display in Glendale around the stadium during the fan festivities leading up to the game. The displays included mannequins sporting the new (wrong) striped pants. Also note that the #2 jersey has the BCS patch in place of the SEC patch (as retail jerseys would look) while the #85 jersey was correctly patched up like the game jerseys.
It’s unclear if this was a push by Under Armour to get Auburn to wear matching stripes on the pants or a mistake on Under Armour’s part. Regardless, Auburn would take to the field at (then) University of Phoenix Stadium with the traditionally striped pants and come away with the crystal ball.
Under Armour’s pop-up in Pasadena, Arizona, featured two incorrectly outfitted mannequins.
It was ultimately all for not, as the Tigers would wear their traditionally striped pants for the game against Oregon.
2011 – Navy Pants via NCAA Football 12
The annual EA Sports NCAA Football game was released during the summer each year. Back in the day, the team at EA Sports would seem to know about uniform changes before the general public.
When the marketing campaigns and trailers were released ahead of the release. many would be eager to point out any new developments or inaccuracies with the uniform modeling (It was EA after all).
When NCAA 12 was being teased, the screenshots featured the Iron Bowl in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Auburn was shown wearing the usual white jerseys but with a new pair of navy blue pants. The new pants also featured the matching stripes on the sides rather than the usual striping pattern (and an orange “tramp stamp” on the belt tunnel).
Needless to say, the navy pants never happened. It’s once again unclear if they were planned at some point and nixed later on or if EA Sports was presumptive in their addition to the game.
2019 – White at Home vs. Tulane
The 2019 season began with Auburn and Oregon meeting in Dallas, Texas. The first home game would come in week two with former conference rival Tulane coming to town for the first time since 2006.
Marketing campaigns requesting fans to wear specific colors have become more common each year and have expanded to every game of the season, not just select games. The Auburn-Tulane game, with a 6:35 pm kickoff time, was designated as a “Wear White” game to beat the 90* temperatures at the start of the game.
I bet you can see where things went at this point.
With the crowd expected to wear white, many believed that the team themselves would wear white for the home opener. Many teams do that, including the NFL pros, so why not Auburn? Auburn had only worn white at home once in the handful of decades prior – a 2007 game against Vanderbilt that was ultimately a throwback to the 1957 national championship team.
The game naturally saw Auburn wear the traditional home blue uniforms against Tulane, who countered with a green/white/green combination.
Navy jerseys for the home opening “Wear White” designated game. (image via Jake Crandall, Montgomery Advertiser)
2022 – Orange Jerseys vs. Penn State
Ah, the Penn State game. Fun times.
Another All Auburn, All Orange game was scheduled, this time against a team that broke out their traditional White Out game in Beaver Stadium the year before. The belief that orange jerseys would once again return to Jordan-Hare Stadium kicked up to a degree that hasn’t been seen in a very long time.
As the Auburn fans continued to convince themselves that their wishes were coming true, the Auburn Athletics social media team decided to jump in on the fun. Fully embracing the All Orange theme (and, let’s be honest, the fan-made hype), the social accounts changed to orange profile pictures and header banners.
But it didn’t stop there. The posts throughout the week continued to tease that something orange was on the way. The key post came with close-up photos on the helmet and jersey, with just an orange area of the jersey being visible. While many believed it to be evidence of a full orange top, it was truly just a close-up shot of the sleeve on the blue jerseys.
The manner in which Auburn officially leaned into the hype was, by many fans, labeled as trolling. It was in bad faith that those in the know would continue to lead fans on as they did, many claimed. It became a sticking point and caused some mistrust for some in the fanbase. That pain would linger as the butt of the joke for most, but surface as more than just that a little over a year later.
Auburn would ultimately join in the All Orange fun and sport the orange facemasks for the first time this season. Unfortunately, the game would go about as well as the week on social media did.
Orange facemasks are good, but a disappointment for some after a week of misleading hype. (image via Adam Sparks, OA News)
2023 – Orange…Something at Texas A&M
The first road trip of the season saw Auburn grab the first victory while wearing the white facemasks in the program’s first meeting with the Cal Golden Bears. With the Tigers looking to travel to College Station, Texas, the Auburn Football team posted a simple tweet:
We hear y’all like orange 🟠 👀
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 21, 2023
With the scars of the previous year’s transgressions, many Auburn fans were not ready to be teased again. A lack of critical thinking skills once again led some fans to think orange jerseys were to be worn, ignoring that the game was at Texas A&M and against a team that wears a shade of red themselves. The likelihood of Auburn debuting a new jersey like this on the road was already lower than the prospects of new uniforms in general.
The initial tease was ultimately lifted early on and revealed to be the orange facemasks. This would be the first time since 1983 that the Tigers would wear the orange masks with the white jerseys since a 13-7 victory over Georgia.
Orange facemasks returned to the white uniforms for the first time since 1983. (image via Maria Lysaker, USA Today)
There are a few main takeaways from all of these examples:
1. Simple critical thinking and deduction skills are beneficial.
There is so much that goes into getting a football team outfitted and prepared for gameday. And many of the rumors completely fail to realize the scope of an equipment manager’s job.
Let’s go back to the 2022 Penn State game for this example. While the marketing campaign called for orange, it was so unlikely for the team to also wear orange. First off, the team didn’t have orange jerseys on hand. They simply didn’t exist.
“But they could just order them!” many cried. Not necessarily. It can take over a year to receive such an order from the time the order is placed – and Auburn would actually have to place the order. Then the jerseys have to be sized, tailored, have patches added, have the names added, and then they’re about ready to go.
On top of that, the Auburn Equipment team posted a photo of the coaches polos for the game – they, too, were orange. For players on the field to easily spot the coaching staff on the sidelines, they need to contrast from the team for easier visibility. This is why you see some play-callers wearing non-school colors at times. If the coaches were wearing orange, the team was unlikely to do so as well. Sure, a polo is really easy to change out of, but equipment managers and coaches aren’t going to do more work just because they can.
Many believe that teams are going to change between pregame warmups and the opening kick. Sure, it happened back in the day – that’s what Barfield did once, in fact. Georgia did so in 2007 with the black jerseys, and Maryland did with the original state flag uniforms in 2011. But uniforms have changed so much since then. They’re tighter and more body-conforming – on purpose. It oftentimes takes teammates and staff members to get players out of their pads. There’s not much reason nowadays to do that for a quick thrill.
And, don’t forget about the social media aspect. It’s been a very long time since we (the collective, uniform-caring world “we”) have seen big surprises like those Maryland and Georgia days. Social media and engagements are defining factors for athletic departments nowadays. There isn’t a uniform combination that isn’t shown with an overhyped, over-the-top, often dumb reveal video. They lose out on a lot of that when the team makes a surprise last-second change.
2. What the fans are encouraged to wear doesn’t necessarily mean the team will match.
Athletic teams requesting fans to wear certain colors to the game isn’t anything new, but it certainly has changed over the years.
For Auburn specifically, Tuberville wanted to see Jordan-Hare in orange for every game. Eventually, orange became the default suggestion with an occasional “wear blue” game, and then “wear white” appeared. They were used sparingly until recently when every single game had some sort of theme.
Fan-wear schedules are simply marketing campaigns. They’re to unite the fanbase in a single color of clothing and to push sales of said color apparel. Rarely does the team – any team – follow suit and wear the same thing.
Don’t believe me? Go compare Oregon’s fan-wear schedule with what the team actually wears. Yes, there may be some games in which the team and stands match, but it’s not every game. Once again, the team contrasting from the stands is what often happens on-field.
It’s almost impossible to track every single rumor that has found its way into newspapers, airwaves, or onto the internet. The instances recorded here are the most prominent rumors that took on legs of their own above and beyond. There are typically small-scale rumors that pop up and get started each week.
Are there any other prominent uniform-related rumors that we missed? Drop them in the comments below.
This article will be updated with future rumor mill moments as they undoubtedly occur.
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Good read!! Can’t wait until the Orange Scare happens again in 2024!!