Welcome to Minnesota Football uniform week!

There are two periods of in the Gopher sports year that I dislike the most. The first is the post March Madness off-season, especially once the NFL Draft is done and we hit the summer doldrums. The second is right now, after National Signing Day but before Spring Practice begins.

It’s not as bad as the true college sports offseason. After all, having basketball and hockey to focus on helps a lot (especially when they are winning like this season). But after the ups and downs of the regular season and bowls and the caring is creepy run up to National Signing Day, the two month window before Spring Football still feels a little empty.

The solution? FOOTBALL TALK. Big stuff, little stuff, who cares so long as it’s football stuff. One topic that took over the TDG writer’s Slack channel recently was the inevitable uniform changes that come with a coaching change.

Honestly, the Gophers were probably due for at least a slight refresh anyway (the current set is now 5 years old). But once your school hires a new coach you can just assume there will be new uniforms either before or immediately after the new staff’s first season.

While Minnesota Football has never had a tradition of unchanging uniforms, we’re also never been Oregon. As a result, the thought of new uniforms (especially when the current set is pretty universally loved) can raise blood pressures in the fanbase. I urge everyone to remain calm while we walk all over their digital lawn.

Here’s a look at what we’ll be talking about this week:

• Tuesday: New uniforms under Fleck at Western Michigan
• Wednesday: Open Letters to Fleck about the importance of going FULL BANANA and the terribleness of black uniforms. Also, a bunch of probably innacurate predictions.
• Thursday: #TBT on Minnesota’s uniform history
• Friday: Staff roundtable on uniforms.

We may have some other pieces get added as well if Job A permits folks to do so. Don’t expect a bunch of scoops from our #sources because we don’t have any. Do expect what we hope is fairly intelligent speculation and plenty of opportunity to sound off about what you’d like to see or avoid during any as yet unannounced uniform change.

In that spirit, make sure to vote in the poll below!