Rich Rodgriquez isn’t the uniform police, but had a recent rant about player uniforms

Senior Editor
Rich Rodgriquez isn’t the uniform police, but had a recent rant about player uniforms image

College football coaches have a lot they must be concerned with. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez took a considerable amount of time on his weekly coaches show to vent frustration over something he should realistically not have to be as concerned with. Players’ uniforms being less than uniform.

According to Sports Illustrated, Rodriguez answered a question about a player exiting the Colorado game due to an exposed knee brace. That’s when Rodriguez jumped into a uniform accessories rant few expected to hear. Coach Rodriguez may have just added to his list of greatest media soundbites.

"I tell our guys I don't want to be the uniform police, but some of this stuff bothers me, Rodriguez said. "Like it's not a towel they wear, it's a tail. It's not like you're keeping your hands dry with something that's three inches long and looks like a tail. I'm like, when in the hell did we start putting tails on our guys? It's the same thing when you're watching games and they got mouthpieces, but they ain't using 'em. It's just decoration. Not here. We don't do that. You got a mouthpiece; you put it in your mouth.”

The second section of his rant follows a similar path, but Rodriguez is going to have a difficult time convincing today’s player of some of this. He went in on shoes the players are given vs the shoes they choose to wear. This one has been building for decades. Shoes, or in this case popular sneakers with spikes have been a growing concept for a while. Might take an actual policy to enforce that one.

"It's the same way with shoes. You wear the shoes that we give you. You don't go over there to get your own fancy shoes and put some sparkles on it or whatever the hell it is.”

Rodriguez’ comments do come off as outdated, but there is a reasonable underlining theme here. Uniformity in uniforms has been an established concept for a long time, even outside of the realm of sports. Whether it’s a football uniform, a school uniform, or as Rodriguez refers to, a military uniform, there are reasons why everyone is asked to look the same.

"It's called a uniform. We're all the same. You don't see the military when they go out to do battle, one's wearing white, one's wearing green. They're all in uniform. That's what we got to be.”

Rodriguez references Angel Reese for non-practical accessories

Coach Rodriguez is also not a fan of wearing accessories that have no practical benefit. Whether it be novelty mouthpieces or compression tights when added compression is not necessary or unbalanced. He even went as far as comparing his players to WNBA player Angel Reese. Likely drawing the disdain of that sizeable fanbase.

"We let these kids wear all kinds of glow-in-the-dark mouthpieces and all kinds of crap like that. It drives me crazy. And it's like, they wear these leggings, right? If you had a leg injury and you had a knee sprain or something, and the trainer gives you a knee sleeve to keep that tight, that's understandable. But if you're wearing just one long legging on one leg and nothing on the other, you're just trying to be Angel Reese. That's what I call 'em. Are you trying to make a fashion statement? She can get by with it. She's in the WNBA. You're a football player. No Angel Reese's here."

There is a line to toe here. There should be a happy medium between the uniformity that is expected, individualism within reason, and not creating more things to worry about than players should be focused on. Coaches want players focused and it's understandable that a coach might question that focus if guys are wearing "tails" and "sparkles" on their shoes. 

There is a balance to strike and its less likely that squashing all of what players do to individualize is necessarily the best course of action. Recently Kirk Herbstreit echoed a sentiment that fellow Big 12 coach Deion Sanders had previously voiced concern over regarding uniforms. The short shorts issue. Players wearing the necessary pads and pants to cover those pads are probably a more immediate concern that if Mountaineers players are wearing customer Jordan cleats or glow in the dark mouthpieces. 

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Staff Writer