Players and fans said they are excited for Simpson College’s new football uniforms for this season.

Red and gold are the colors Simpson is best known for, but teams have been getting away from those colors and adding alternate jerseys. The football team joined the other teams with the purchase of their new all-black uniforms and a pair of red pants.

“We got them because the kids wanted something new and exciting. We try to use it as a recruiting tool,” head coach Jim Glogowski said. “It’s exciting to get new uniforms, and different combinations are something that appeals to recruits even at our level. Frankly, we can no longer order the gold pants, yet our jerseys are only 2 years old.”

Glogowski said a benefit of the new uniforms is the longevity they bring to the older uniforms.

With more jerseys and pants to alternate between, all of the uniforms will take less general wear-and-tear. Between their all-black alternates, red and gold home uniforms, all-white away uniforms and versatile red pants, they have a total of 12 possible combinations.

The credit, Glogowski said, goes to James Hoffman. “He is kind of our in-house fashion expert. So he was a big supporter of the black uniforms,” he said.

The black uniforms are the exact uniforms the University of Oregon Ducks wear on game day — high tech and form fitting.

The snugger jerseys make players harder to grab, but the materials are more susceptible to rips than jerseys worn a decade ago.

Sophomore halfback Davey Jergens said his favorite uniform is the new black-on-black.

“When we wear black on black we get all pumped up, but that only lasts for the first play or so,” Jergens said.

Senior wide receiver Nate Connealy thinks differently.

He said if you look good, you feel good and you will play good. The uniforms energizes the atmosphere and gives the team a new look.

“I love the black-on-black look, but I’m also a big fan of the black and red combos,” Connealy said.

Glogowski said his favorite combination is the black jersey with the gold pants, but it is not as popular with the tem.

He said he hopes to eventually have enough money to buy alternate helmets to match the all-black uniforms, but with the high price of helmets, he would need a sizable donation.

“We try to give the guys the best experience possible although they don’t get free shoes and all kinds of free stuff like the Division I guys get. It certainly makes them feel like they’re being treated the right way as far as having some nice amenities like a uniform,” Glogowski said.