Dave Feit: First Thoughts About Nebraska's 'Back in Black' Alt Uniform for 2025

As the first images of Nebraska football's alternate uniform for 2025 leaked out, one thought came to mind:

"Ope. Sorry about that, Trev."

As you may recall, Trev Alberts (Nebraska's previous athletic director) was very staunchly against Cornhusker teams wearing black uniforms. Trev's vision was for a unified brand identity without any "flavor of the month" looks.

The former Blackshirt's refusal to put the Huskers in black is rumored to be the reason Nebraska did not wear an alternate uniform in 2024.*

*I have read that the lead time for a new alternate uniform is well over a year. This is due to the necessary design, manufacturing, and - most importantly - retail considerations. As such, the decision on an alternate in 2024 was likely made before Troy Dannen took over.

But with Trev down in College Station (where, ironically, the Aggies wore all-black in 2024), black can be back in Lincoln.

Let’s dig in.

The uniform

In the past, we've done a head-to-toe review of the different uniform elements. But, frankly, that's not necessary. Picture the current Nebraska uniform. Remove the "Winning Tradition" patch. Take everything that is red and make it black. Add black pants to complete the look.

Boom. Done.

As an older, "if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it" fan, I admittedly have mixed feelings. There was a time when I was staunchly against Nebraska wearing black. I’ve come to accept that many fans - and especially players and recruits - love black uniforms. Their voices are louder (and more important) than mine. Cynically, I'll note that Nebraska and Adidas are much more likely to listen to the opinions of folks willing to spend $120 on a retail version of a jersey.

Long story short, I'm not at all surprised to see Nebraska back in black. Heck, I predicted it a year ago (before it was announced that Nebraska was taking the year off). At the time, I assumed they would bring the old "Everybody Gets a Blackshirt" alts out of storage and call it a day.

This version is a big improvement

But from a stylistic standpoint, the old Blackshirt alternates were a hot mess. A mishmash of red and white accents, too many patches, and it never felt right to have third-string defenders wearing something with a Blackshirts logo - let alone offensive players.

In a different piece from last summer, I offered three simple suggestions for how Adidas could take the existing Blackshirt alts and turn them into a winner.

Remove the skull and crossbones. Check.
Pick one secondary color and go with it. Check. The black and white pair nicely, even if the end result evokes something Iowa State wore last season.
Go all-in on the black. Partially checked. The black pants create the trendy, monotone "color rush" look. I think Nebraska could have - and probably should have - gone for a black helmet with white "N" to really complete the look. I would have been okay with a white helmet featuring a script “HUSKERS” in black to add a little more pop.

Overall, Adidas understood the assignment and they nailed it. Give them a B+, with points deducted for not going all-in on the helmet.

A door unlocked, or a slippery slope?

We know the new black uniforms will be worn Nov. 1 against Southern Cal. Hopefully, Nebraska can win as they are currently 0-4 in black uniforms (2013 UCLA, 2015 Northwestern, 2019 Indiana and 2020 Illinois) and just 7-6 in alternates since the start of the Adidas alternate uniform era in 2009.

To me, the bigger discussion is "What's next?"

Will the all-black uniforms become a regular part of Nebraska's uniform rotation? Could we see them annually, or perhaps multiple times per year? Remember: when the original Blackshirt alternates were announced, (then head coach) Scott Frost said they could be used as a reward for a strong performance.

Nebraska wore all-white last October at Indiana and will wear all-black in November. This raises the question: When will Nebraska wear all-red at home? I know all about the horrors of the 1986 Oklahoma game, but the question of all-red feels more like a "when" than an "if".

Finally, Nebraska now officially has three different sets of jerseys and pants in red, white and black.

It won't be long until somebody suggests mixing and matching the different elements (red jersey with black pants, black jersey with white pants, etc.) Personally, I hate the idea of trading parts of Nebraska's iconic uniforms for their black-for-black's-sake counterparts. It feels like owning a classic car… and then covering it with bumper stickers.

But as I wrote a year ago: Matt Rhule strikes me as a guy who is not tied to strict uniform convention. Troy Dannen has shown that his job is to tell Rhule "yes" as much as possible. And most fans are so desperate to win that we're willing to let Rhule do pretty much anything he wants if he thinks it will help – even tinkering with Nebraska’s iconic uniforms.

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