Former Auburn quarterback Charlie Trotman asks Tigers to wear orange jerseys vs Penn State
Auburn will never escape controversy, it seems.
From the coaches, to the quarterbacks, to the games. On and off the field, wherever the Tigers go, there will be some form of emotional tension or dissension regardless of how well things are going.
This week controversy does not primarily revolve around players, or coaches, or even the game against No. 22 Penn State.
Rather, it focuses on jersey color.
Auburn has traditionally worn navy jerseys at home, and white ones for road contests. According to Clint Richardson of the Auburn Uniform Database, "While it surely isn’t the first game that Auburn wore orange, the earliest game I have proof of the Tigers doing so was the 1928 meeting with Clemson. Orange was a main stay for Auburn and worn nearly every season until 1947, when only white jerseys were worn the entire season."
The Tigers wore the color on and off until 1955 when they went to strictly navy and white uniforms. In 1978, Auburn head coach Doug Barfield broke out orange unis for the Tigers in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry against Georgia. After that game, orange jerseys were used four more times.
Why the commotion now over orange uniforms? Well, this week is Auburn's "wear orange" game, featuring a big-time opponent in Penn State, who defeated the Tigers 28-20 in Happy Valley a season ago.
Fans are currently up in arms about whether or not the team should use the orange unis once more.
Former Auburn quarterback Charlie Trotman joined The Score with Doug Amos to talk about how he and his team felt in 1978 when the Tigers wore orange for the first time.
"When Frank Cox, our equipment manager, when he put those orange jerseys in our lockers before the Georgia game, I didn't even know we were going to wear orange jerseys," Trotman said. "Most of the team didn't know. Only the captains knew."
The idea of change is something Auburn people have had a difficult time adjusting to in the past. Whether it be a head coach, a new scoreboard, helmet sticker, or even the whirlwind of construction on the Plains to accommodate the rapidly growing population.
Culture runs deep here. Change is not widely accepted.
When someone comes along trying to break Auburn away from the toilet paper-wrapped traditions of old, it can cause inquietude.
Sometimes, however, that change can bring excitement.
Trotman showed Amos his jersey from that '78 season and explained just how excited the new threads made him and his team.
"When we came back in the locker room, it was like a kid in a candy store," Trotman said. "You're getting something new [...] we went berserk. We were jumping up and down, we were hitting each other. We had more adrenaline going before that game than I think I've ever had in my life."
The intention of wearing something new, or breaking up the traditional normalities of a program that is currently under water, would be to spark excitement - not just for the fanbase, but for anyone outside of the circle that could be watching.
"If wearing an orange jersey excites that football team, and excites the hundreds of recruits and their families that are going to be there Saturday, then that's what the intent should be," Doug Amos said. "Not the fanbase - it ought to be what it does inside your locker room."
Amos believes that the Tigers could use a spark, something to help them turn the corner. After finishing 6-7 in 2021, and coming out of the gates in 2022 with a less-than-perfect 2-0, the team could use something to help steer things back in the right direction.
"If those players warm up in blue jerseys, and then come back out in orange ones, that stadium would erupt," Trotman said. "It would be like Mount Vesuvius again [...] I can't imagine what it would be like. And the recruits would absolutely eat it up. It would show that Bryan Harsin is not afraid to do some things that maybe the fans aren't really for."
If it is about not changing tradition, then why are these uniforms an issue? Trotman pointed out that "the history of orange jerseys at Auburn is apart of our history. It's not like it has not been done it before [...] it's pulling out something that would give the kids such an emotional edge - you cannot imagine the emotion that we had. We were so pumped up for that game (against Georgia)."
That game, by the way, was against a Georgia squad that was undefeated and ranked No. 8 in the nation. Auburn was a slightly above average team that finished the year 6-4-1. They were underdogs. According to Trotman, those orange jerseys propelled the Tigers to a 22-22 tie against one of the best teams in the SEC.
"We played them off their feet," Trotman said. "Had it not been for a call at half time - William Andrews scored on the last play of the half, but they didn't call it. Said he was down at the half yard line. But we would have won that game."
"It was a monumental day for Auburn football players. I don't know about the fans, but for the football players it was a monumental day, and one we will never forget."
Ask the current players themselves. They'll all tell you about their enthusiasm over the thought of wearing something new.
"Auburn is really traditional, so I don’t think that’s going to happen," Auburn linebacker and captain Owen Pappoe said to the media on Monday afternoon. "It would be sweet if it happens."
Are orange jerseys completely out of the question? It feels like it, at least for now. What is in question, however, is whether or not the Tigers will make some sort of uniform change (excluding facemasks) before the end of the season.
“I was told there was going to be a surprise for us this year,” Pappoe said. “I don’t know which game it’s going to be for, but they said there will be some kind of surprise.”
It would be relatively disappointing if the Tigers marched out on Saturday with nothing but orange facemasks, a detail that was added in a pair of games last season and will make its return to the field according to EDGE Derick Hall.
The matchup with No. 22 Penn State this Saturday could arguably be the biggest home game of the season. It's as big of a recruiting weekend that Auburn will have all year.
"If they don't do it now, I'm going to be a little disappointed," Amos said.
If that were the case, nothing is preventing Auburn from making some new designs for the future.
Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!
Follow Auburn Daily on Twitter
