ASU's new football uniforms were released Thursday to a mostly positive reaction, leaving many curious to see what went into the development for the school's new look.
AZCentral.com's Andrew Joseph spoke with adidas Global VP of Team Sports Mark Daniels about the development of the uniforms prior to the release.
"The way I look at it is it wasn't what Nike had, it's what Arizona State had," Mark Daniels, Adidas Global VP of Team Sports, said. "They had very clean, bold looks that had some DNA that was very authentic to their school. We wanted to stay true to what the university's North Star was. And of course, we have elements that are very, very different."
Daniels helped lead the design and marketing partnership between Adidas and ASU. They did the uniform redesign on a much shorter timetable than what the company is used to.
"These are usually 18- or 24-month conversations to just update something, and that's with an existing partner," Daniels said. "We didn't have that period of time, and this got done very late in 2014. So, we were in a hurry-up offense."
According to Daniels, Adidas did not want to dictate the design process. His team worked in constant contact with Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson, head coach Todd Graham and even got some players involved.
They asked, "What does Arizona State mean?" Daniels said he felt that this collaborative effort produced a result that stayed consistent with what ASU wanted from a design standpoint.
Daniels reemphasized that this was the mark of a new beginning for ASU, who began a new eight-year, $33.8 million contract with the apparel company on July 1.
"This is a new era for Arizona State," Daniels said. "That doesn't mean we are going to make a right-hand turn from what Arizona State stood for, but it's certainly amping that up in a very big way."
ASU's adidas reveal also included an interview with head coach Todd Graham on the company's official site.
"Our partnership with adidas and the uniforms they created for our program are game changers for Sun Devil Football and Arizona State," Graham said in a statement. "We pride ourselves on our speed and intensity on the field, and the technology behind these uniforms will allow us to maximize these strengths. They have a look that appeals to all of our fans, from the young Devils playing peewee football to our longtime season-ticket holders, and there are components that pay homage to community, show respect for our past, and honor the proud tradition of Arizona State University and our Sun Devil Football program."
Check out the unveiled base uniform sets here.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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