Boston College has new uniforms. Well, “new” might not be the best way to describe them.
The Eagles are rolling out another version of their Flutie era threads. BC took its team pictures in the 1984-inspired home kit, teased a mysterious reveal with a no-stripe helmet wallpaper last week, and officially announced the update on Wednesday with a much-anticipated video of the road uniforms.
It’s a wardrobe addition that many Eagles fans have been requesting for years, especially after former Athletic Director Martin Jarmond created his own clothing line with the retro BC logo. As merchandise flew off the shelves in BC’s bookstores, and the Eagles wore the home throwbacks at Alumni Stadium from time to time, the BC faithful inquired for a permanent uniform swap.
That might have to wait, as BC Athletics informed Eagle Action on Wednesday that the newly-introduced retro road uniforms are one of five options for the team to wear in 2020.
The other four are presumably the home throwback kit, the Eagles’ current home/away sets (which debuted in 2016), and BC’s honorary maroon-on-white Red Bandana unis.
BC brought back the retro maroon jersey, gold pants combination in 2018. It used the kit three times amid what was the most exciting Eagles season of the decade. The uniforms first appeared during Homecoming Weekend against Louisville. The debut went well—so well in fact that BC wore the threads for its primetime, top-20 College GameDay matchup against Clemson. Although the Eagles lost to then-No. 2 Clemson under the lights, they weren’t ready to store away the retro unis just yet.
To close out the year, BC once again suited up in the simple but clean throwbacks. Only this time, the Eagles wore their normal striped helmets. Ending the regular season on a three-game skid, BC suffered its second consecutive loss in the retro uniforms.
This past year, the Eagles only paid homage to the Flutie era with their uniforms once. For the second straight season, BC wore the fan favorite unis on Homecoming Weekend. Like the year prior, the Eagles showed out with plenty of alumni in attendance. AJ Dillon and David Bailey ran all over N.C. State, handing the Wolfpack a resounding 45-24 defeat.
All in all, BC is 2-2 in the home version of the throwback set. The revamped white road uniforms were first seen in 2015 when the Eagles played Notre Dame at Fenway Park. Many BC fans loved the white-on-gold combo, as well as the return to the stripeless helmets, and still remember the matchup fondly. After all, the three-win Eagles forced five turnovers and gave the No. 4 Irish a scare in a game they had no business winning.
BC experimented with a number of uniform concepts during the 2010s: after finally dropping the slanted numbers, it returned to the traditional block format but with a “stained glass” design. The 2011 update screamed indecision, as the six different color combination kits tugged back-and-forth between old school BC and modern Under Armour. The numbering, pant stripes, and solid jersey colors were refreshingly classic, however, the stained glass accents on the numbers, the road sleeves, and the infamous triple-stripe helmet clashed horribly.
Maybe the worst part about these threads was the creative yet unpalatable color combinations that they offered. The maroon-on-maroon, as well as the gold-on-maroon pairings never worked, and probably never will.
In 2016, BC rolled out an improved uniform set. It managed to use the stained glass design in a subtler fashion, utilizing the pattern to break up maroon and white stripes on both the sleeves and the pants. The gold sleeves give the uniforms a bit more personality and is a modern take on the “Northwestern stripes.” The big collar and shoulder pad numbers are fine, but the piping on the pants is a bit random and detracts from the kit.
A year later, BC put the nameplates back on its jerseys. It marked the end of a four-year stretch in which former head coach Steve Addazio had them removed in order to further emphasize his team-first outlook. The current uniforms (2016-present) aren’t an eye sore, but they certainly aren’t turning any heads either (aside from the Red Bandana Game kit).
The 1984-inspired threads showcase BC’s retro logo on the shoulder pads. Notably, there is no helmet stripe, and the numbers are a different, blockier font with a more defined outline. The pants are a darker shade of gold than the Eagles’ uniforms of the 2000s. There are no diagonal stripes above the knee pads. Instead, it’s just one thick maroon stripe down the side of the pants with a white border.
As far as the differences between the home and road uniforms are concerned, there are two that stick out. The home kit has the double “Northwestern stripes” on the sleeves, whereas the road jerseys simply have the players’ numbers in that location without any kind of striping. Secondly, although both jerseys have numbers with gold outlines, the home digits are white and the road numbers are maroon.
If it happens, college football in 2020 won’t look normal—not with face shields, masks, social distancing on the sidelines, and limited to no fans in stadiums. Yet the Eagles faithful will get a glimpse of familiarity when BC wears its retro uniforms.
And a rush of nostalgia.
