Picture Michigan's football team wearing maize-based football uniforms.
Weird, right?
Since the dawn of time, the Wolverines have worn predominantly navy blue home uniforms with white uniforms on the road, and Michigan's jerseys are among the most iconic in the sport. However, with Michigan moving to become the flagship team of Jordan Brand, chatter has begun that the Wolverines could display some aggressive alternate uniforms in the future, including one that is a different central color altogether.
With that in mind, Jim Harbaugh discussed the possibility of alternates at Michigan's jersey unveiling earlier in the week, and he would not dismiss the possibility of going outside the box (via 247Sports):
"We'll definitely keep an open mind on it. They've hit it out of the park. Everything they have done up to this point has been hitting it out of the park and knocking our socks off. Definitely going to keep an open mind to what their thoughts are and to what their ideas are, without question. Haven't decided, and not going to change the uniform design at this time, but I stand open to their ideas, because some people just think of things better than what other people do. They do a tremendous job at the highest level.
"I'll keep an open mind. It'd be dumb not to!"
Putting "an open mind" on display isn't something that always goes over well in Ann Arbor and with "Michigan Men", but Harbaugh can basically do no wrong in the eyes of Michigan supporters right now. That reality would smooth things over should the Wolverines go in a different uniform direction, and when considering what Nike has built with Oregon on the west coast, it seems somewhat reasonable that Michigan could follow that model when it comes to using the Jumpman logo in creative ways.
It would certainly be odd to see Michigan stray from tradition in any meaningful way (and it didn't work for Adidas) but if prospects and players want more creativity, it could be beneficial in the long run.