When Kalen DeBoer took over the Alabama football program from, Nick Saban we knew there would be changes, but nobody thought he would shake up the iconic Crimson Tide uniforms.
The change was small and only on a couple of the jerseys as Tyler Booker, Deontae Lawson, Jalen Milroe and Malachi Moore, the four permanent team captains this season, all received “C” patches just above the SEC logo on their right shoulders.
DeBoer changed the Alabama tradition of voting on team captains at the annual team banquet in December to voting on captains before the start of the season. This change allowed Alabama captains to wear a “C” patch on their jerseys for the first time in Crimson Tide history. This tradition is something that DeBoer has carried with him at all his prior coaching stops.
“It’s an honor to be a captain,” DeBoer said Monday during his weekly press conference. “With that, I’ve always liked to have that understood through a ‘C’ on the jersey, which I think is really cool for those guys to wear.”
Even a small uniform modification like the “C” patch is rare at Alabama. The last time Alabama’s uniform was changed was in 2021 when the SEC put its logo on the front right shoulder of all the conference members' jerseys. Student athletes who have graduated get a special SEC logo patch that identifies their graduate status.
The Crimson Tide’s last major change to their traditional jersey was in 2010 against Mississippi State, when Nike released their “pro combat” uniforms. Alabama’s version of the Nike promotional jersey contained an American flag on the right shoulder pad and a houndstooth pattern inside the numbers on the front of the jersey.
Alabama fans who like traditional uniforms might not agree with the new addition to the captain’s jerseys, but when asked at his press conference if he had received any pushback or complaints, DeBoer said that so far, he hadn’t received any.
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