USA TODAY — Maybe it was those, ahem, interesting two-tone helmets that kept the Jacksonville Jaguars out of the Super Bowl last season.
Whatever the reason, the club's five-year experiment with the black and gold helmets is over, the domes reverting to the all-black look the Jags used for the first 18 years of their existence.
The team unveiled its new Nike Vapor Untouchable uniforms Thursday. The new threads consists of three jersey options (black, white, teal), three pants options (black, white, teal) and two sock options (standard, color rush teal).
“True to our current identity and what we want to represent for years to come, our new uniforms are no-nonsense, all business and unmistakably Jaguars,” owner Shad Khan said in a statement. “Tradition has returned to Jacksonville.”
The retro-ish helmets will retain the updated Jaguar logo the team switched to in 2013 and will otherwise use a high-gloss black paint. They'll now feature “JAX” on the front 3-D bumper to honor the city of Jacksonville. On the rear, the white bumper now features “JAGUARS” in teal lettering.
It's the latest iteration of a look the team has constantly tinkered with since its inception in 1995. None have produced a Super Bowl trip for one of only four NFL teams to have never reached the big game (Lions, Browns and Texans are the others).
But the man who was there at the beginning approves of the latest update.
“I wanted to see the return of tradition, I wanted to see the distinctiveness, I wanted the shiny black helmet with a beautiful Jaguars logo,” said executive VP of football oerations Tom Coughlin, who also coached the Jags for their first eight seasons (1995-2002).
“I wanted to be represented that way. Just exactly how I've explained it: the classic Jaguar uniform. To a player, the uniform means everything. Because when you put that uniform on you not only represent your franchise, your team, your community; you represent your family. You represent your parents, your wife, your children, everything packed into one because your name is on the back of that uniform.”
