Gophers Reveal New All-Black ‘Dark Mode’ Uniforms for Saturday Night

The (1-0) Minnesota Gophers will play the (1-0) Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday night — learn everything you need to know about the matchup here — and they will do it in new all-black uniforms. They teased the new fits on Thursday night, before releasing photos of the full uniform on Friday morning.

New Gophers Football Black Uniforms – 2023

𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲⚫️ pic.twitter.com/w6eUWshoa5

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) September 7, 2023

Also Read:
3 Takeaways From Gophers’ Ugly Season-Opening Victory Over Huskers

Football uniforms under PJ Fleck

It isn’t the first time they’ve gone ‘dark mode’, but it is different than in past seasons. Last year, they went with a white helmet, to compliment the all-black unis. In 2021, they went away from the block style numbers and letters, in favor of a more modern font (which nobody was a big fan of), and dawned darker maroon helmets. This season, however, it’s “all black everything” (other than some white accents) for the first time and I’m a huge fan.

According to the “uniform tracker” updated on the Gophers media guide every game week, Minnesota is 2-1 while wearing black jerseys and black pants. The only loss came at home vs Ohio State in week one of 2021.

Since PJ Fleck took over as Gophers head football coach, uniform colors and helmet designs have changed far more drastically than what we saw before him. They’ve worn 22 different color combinations (23 after Saturday) and 47 new helmet styles (48 after Saturday).

Minnesota @GopherFootball has had 47 new helmets in the 71 games coached by PJ Fleck since start of 2017 season.https://t.co/Rz9L7xD4MA
7/14🧵 pic.twitter.com/DOwqf7pBow

— Blaise D'Sylva (@wtfcoach) August 25, 2023

Older school fans want to see more of the classic maroon and gold combinations but PJ doesn’t choose uniforms based on what those fans want. He does it based on what 15-22 year-old kids want. It’s a recruiting/hype tool for the guys on the field and any future footballers who might have to choose a college to play football at down the road.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan