Countdown to Kickoff (51): New Nike x BYU Sideline Gear for the 2019 Season

Previously, the VTF staff critiqued the 2019 Football Gameday tee and gave our opinions on it. Now, we highlight some of the new 2019 Nike BYU Sideline apparel you’ll see on the sidelines and scattered around the stadium this season. Hopefully more apparel will be released between now and the start of the season, but we’ve reviewed the gear currently available and given our most honest critique.

T-Shirts

Tyler Staten: It will be a hot home schedule this season, but unfortunately the t-shirt collection isn’t this fall. I notice a trend...royal! Lots of it. However, it isn’t anything special. We already discussed the Official Gameday T in a previous post, and of the selected t-shirts, only the royal/navy mixed shirt is intriguing. The Go Cougs shirt is “aight.” I mean, it’s different than other BYU tees. But that navy shirt? No thanks.

OVERALL GRADE: C

Robby McCombs: I think I’m a little higher on the shirts than you are, Tyler. The Royal Blue “Go Cougs” shirt is clean and simple. My least favorite of the bunch is the navy one with Brigham Young written vertically. Is the L-shape forecasting our future failures?

OVERALL GRADE: B+

Jake Welch: My overall grade would be higher if not for the two massive duds in the official game day shirt and the navy shirt that looks like it was made with Microsoft Clip Art. The other navy option is fine, with the heathered texture that actually looks like a mix of navy and royal. The best options are the “Go Cougs” and BYU Football shirts that come in royal. Even then I’m not tempted to get either shirt, which is saying something because it’s usually pretty easy to get me to buy BYU gear.

OVERALL GRADE: C-

Polos

Tyler: Polos are a personal favorite of mine when it comes to fan apparel, but unfortunately the Nike logo comes with a hefty price tag. That said, the coaches will be most likely be wearing polos on gameday, and this year they look better than the rest of the gear(available thus far). My personal favorite of the selection is the white and royal “Cougar Sailor” polo.

OVERALL GRADE: A

Robby: Good, simple polos. I usually prefer the stretch Y to the Sailor Coug, but that Sailor Coug polo is beautiful. Well done, Nike.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

Jake : These polos are a definite upgrade over what we’ve seen from Nike in the last couple of years. The solid royal and navy options stick to the basics but that’s exactly what you need in a sideline polo. The other two-tone options provide a little more flair and I love it. Those looks won’t be favorites but I like having a contrasting style to the solid color options. The only demerits come from the two-tone polo that has the gray bottom. Gray is not a BYU color and I’ll die on this hill if needs be.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

Hoodies

Tyler: Honestly, nothing great here either. I think I speak for everyone when I say...MORE ROYAL. I’ve never understood the hooded t-shirt look and the second hoodie looks appropriate for youth sizes rather than adults. SHOW ME SOME ROYAL plz.

OVERALL GRADE: D+

Robby: I’m with you, Tyler — pretty meh from me. The gray one has potential, but the script is too small for my liking.

OVERALL GRADE: C-

Jake : Buzz your football hoodies, WOOF. I saw both of these in person at the bookstore and the gray hoodie is more of a workout shirt that should only be used by performance athletes and not dads going to the game. I like that it’s a simple look but the concept of the hooded shirt doesn’t land. And then there is this turd of a navy hoodie that looks like it was made by one of those cheap knock-off athletic brands. This hood would be fine for Ben Criddle’s Royal Army Battalion but I expect more from Nike.

OVERALL GRADE: F

Hats

Tyler: So apparently bucket hats are back. Color is good aka Royal. The bucket hat will be worn by a few of the coaches(looking at you Kalani and Jeff) and a few of the hip teens in the legacy chairs. I’ll stick to my caps from previous seasons. These are fine, but nothing special enough to buy.

OVERALL GRADE: B

Robby: Good hats. The throwback one is great, the bucket hat is a nice touch, and the other two are simple. Can’t go wrong here.

Overall Grade: A-

Jake: I’m not nearly cool enough to wear the bucket hat in a hip way so I must be getting up there in years. Either way I like the look. The other hats looks pretty solid as well, although it would be nice to have a navy option for when we wear our navy uniforms. Nothing looks worse than then the coaching staff is wearing their navy polos with a royal hat. It need to be matching luggage!

Overall Grade: B+