Why You Should Care About K-State's Alternate Uniforms
This column in the Manhattan Mercury caught my eye today. It asks the question: Who Cares About K-State's Alternate Uniforms?
My answer is that pretty much everyone should care. Coaches and fans should care if they want their program to be successful, because players obviously care. In this day of college athletics, branding is incredibly important to the success of a program. Uniforms are a significant part of the brand that the coaches and administrators are creating. If you don't believe that the brand of a program is critical in college athletics, look at what Coach Klieman and crew have orchestrated in social media and marketing of the program. Instead of investing heavily in the recruiting staff, Klieman chose to focus on fixing the brand first.
Yes, there are plenty of examples of programs that have failed miserably, even with the best uniforms available. The brand is not everything. But the brand is what helps attract the players that the coaches want. The brand helps excite and unify a fanbase behind a program. It doesn't matter if you don't win on the field, but the brand is essential.
I think everyone would agree that you can't take 11 bad players and put them in a new uniform to suddenly make them 11 good players. I would, however, make the case that if you have a team that is engaged and motivated to perform at their peak level, you have a better chance of winning than if they were not as motivated. The players were clearly excited about these changes, and it certainly provided a boost to morale.
But to me, by far, the most critical part of alternate uniforms is the impact that it can have on recruiting. Yes, 11 bad players in new uniforms do not make the players elite. But if you want to attract the right players, you have to have an appealing brand (which means well-liked uniforms). K-State's uniforms under Snyder consistently ranked at the bottom of the conference by anonymous player polls at Big 12 Media Days.
Obviously, Snyder had his brand and his way of doing things. He believed in the 16 goals, hard work, and sticking to traditions. But to be honest, that is not an appealing brand to 17 and 18-year-olds in today's society.
Chris Klieman needed to put his mark on the program. He's now the captain of the ship, and it's his call on how to decorate it. I'm just glad he recognizes the importance of having all of the bells and whistles, like alternate uniforms.