How Butler County high school football teams design their new uniforms: ‘This is your brand’
A new era seemed to be the perfect time for Moniteau football to get a makeover.
Clay Kohlmeyer, a former star quarterback for the Warriors, was named head coach in January. Aside from changes to the weight room and team room, the program also received new uniforms.
The result was a look similar to the uniforms the Warriors wore 20-plus years ago, when Kohlmeyer helped lead the team to back-to-back District 9 playoff appearances in 2002 and 2003.
“That was just by coincidence,” Kohlmeyer said. “Riddell sent us eight or nine options. Our athletic director and our coaches trimmed it down to three, and we gave those to our players to vote on. The uniforms we now wear, it was pretty much a unanimous decision.”
Another change was a red and white spear, which now serves as the main symbol for the program, was brought back as the logo on the helmet. It is also featured prominently in Moniteau’s weight room.
“Riddell had an idea to make the spear black and white, but our helmets are black, and we wanted to change things up,” Kohlmeyer said.
Red was the only alternative.
Bryan Hazlet is a sophomore lineman/linebacker and captain for the Warriors who voted for the current look. The uniforms worn the last few years were black and white.
“Red and black are our school colors, and every other sports team at Moniteau wears red,” he said. “I wanted to bring red back to the football uniforms. I think it represents us better.”
When Eric Kasperowicz became Mars’ head football coach in 2022, he brought with him not only his knowledge of Xs and Os and strong leadership skills, but an interest in how a program is represented by its look on the field.
“Ever since I took over the program at Pine-Richland in 2012, I’ve been involved with designing my team’s uniforms,” he said. “You do it enough times and you get to know what you like and don’t like.”
Kasperowicz has been the main man behind the Planets’ current threads, which include separate white and blue jerseys, and separate white, blue and gold pants.
Everything the Planets now don on game days has been purchased since he took over. The latest addition, gold pants, were obtained last year.
Knoch recently closed a 0-10 season under first-year head coach T.J. Wiley, who is planning on a different look for the Knights next season.
“We’re ditching some of the stuff, want to put our stamp on it,” he said. “Just to kind of wash our hands and start fresh.”
That won’t necessarily mean tradition will go by the wayside.
Wiley likes the Knights’ block letter “K” on the helmets. He also thinks the cursive script “Knoch” that used to be on the helmets is a good option.
“It’s amazing what a uniform, the way kids look, can do for their ego and their psyche and lift them a little bit.”
Evidence of that may be found at Moniteau. After not winning a game last year, the Warriors won three this season and were in contention for a playoff spot entering Week 9.
Did their new uniforms play a role? They certainly didn’t hurt.
Coaches look through their programs’ histories and to outside influences for ideas.
“I look at different college teams and what they wear, no school in particular, just pick out different things that I like about this team and that team,” Kasperowicz said. “I do seek advice from our coaching staff and players, people who are a lot cooler than me.
“You look at a team like Oregon, with all of the different looks they have, that’s definitely outside the box and it’s not me. I like a clean look that’s not too busy. I want to combine our team’s tradition with a few updates.”
For instance, the logo on the Planets’ helmets — a gold “M” flanked by an orbiting planet — has been in place for years. But whereas the helmet used to be navy blue, it is now white.
Wiley has had T-shirts made with an emblazoned “K” superimposed on crossing swords, an emblem that calls to mind the logo of the Virginia Cavaliers and was once on the shoulders of the Knights’ jerseys.
The Planets have six different jersey-pants combinations for games. Every Wednesday, Kasperowicz lets his captains choose the team’s look for that week, as long as they follow PIAA rules such as white jerseys for road games.
“There may be a few exceptions,” Kasperowicz said. “When I was at Pine, we had a gray alternate jersey, but if you want to wear something like that, it has to be (approved) by both head coaches and (athletic directors).”
Kasperowicz uses Nike’s “Uniform Builder” to design every part of Mars’ uniforms, from color combinations to accents.
“It’s like designing a living room,” he said.
Trial and error can also play a part in what a team wears.
Larry Wendereusz has been head coach at Slippery Rock since 2016.
“About five or six years ago, we went with a two-toned helmet that was gray on top and faded down into red,” he said. “At the end of that season, we would have had to send the helmets back to be repainted and that would have cost a lot of money. We wore those for just one year.”
Kasperowicz said he puts quite a bit of thought into deciding his team’s uniforms.
“About a month or so,” he said. “It’s not something you just throw together. This is your brand. This is how your football program is going to be presented.”
Eagle Staff Writer Brendan Howe contributed to this article.
