Maybe he was asking to gain an advantage. Maybe he was trying to bring something back. Maybe he wanted to spark his team. Whatever the reason, Lane Kiffin went through the appropriate SEC channels to request that his football team could wear their orange jerseys on Saturday against Alabama in Tuscaloosa. For many years, the NCAA has had a rule that the visiting team wear white jerseys, unless the home team wanted to wear white, in which case the visiting team would wear their colored jerseys.
Up until last year, this rule seemed to be slightly innocuous outside of games in Baton Rouge, most home teams wore their colored jerseys on their home turf. Last season, USC and UCLA decided to go back to both teams wearing their home colors in their match-up. They asked the Pac-10 about this and found out that if a visiting team did not wear white, it would be penalized by the loss of a timeout. In a classy move, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel agreed to, and did, call a timeout immediately after USC was charged with one because they were not wearing white jerseys. After the season, the rule was changed so silly losses of timeouts wouldn't win out over common sense and sentiments towards tradition.
Unfortunately, Mal Moore doesn't share the same sense of nostalgia in the Alabama-Tennessee game that Neuheisel and Carroll had towards UCLA-USC. After clearing the SEC brass, word came to Alabama's athletic director about allowing Tennessee to wear orange and, in turn, grant Alabama permission to wear crimson next year in Knoxville. According to a statement released by Alabama, Moore called his counterpart on Rocky Top and "had a good conversation" and "told him that it is our desire to maintain the custom of the visiting team wearing their visiting jerseys."
Moore talked with Nick Saban about the issue, but Saban told reporters that he's never had anything to do with uniforms, emphasizing the point by revealing that his wife picks out his clothes. Saban also mentioned that as long as his guys wore their traditional unis, he didn't care what the other team wore; he told Moore it was his decision to make.
Now, in part thanks to Forbes magazine naming Saban the most powerful man in sports based on his control of the program he coaches, it's well-known that Saban holds the power in his hands to make this happen. As he told reporters, it seemed that he was indifferent and left the decision to Moore. The fact that Moore actually approached Saban confirms the amount of power held by the head coach. However, Moore is the Bama lifer; Moore was around when the Bear prowled; Moore has seen this program rise and fall and rise and fall and rise again; Moore should know better. At the same time, it is a bit disappointing that Saban didn't share the same sense of nostalgia that the Los Angeles coaches had last year.
Maybe this week wasn't a good time for this to come up. Saban is well aware of Alabama fans and their desperate love for their football team. He never wants to give any edge to an opponent or give them an advantage on purpose. This may turn out to be a lose-lose situation in that allowing the Vols to wear orange could have given them a bit of extra motivation, while denying it gives Kiffin a bit of fodder to sprinkle on his players' shoulders. As a spectator and as a fan, I think it would have been visually enjoyable to watch the game with both teams sporting their primary colors. I think it's going to take a lot more than extra orange material on the field to give Tennessee a better chance against the Tide. I guess I wish Saban (in this case) would have told Moore to go ahead and allow it, especially so that as Alabama rolled into Knoxville next year, the crimson on the field would bring out and highlight all the crimson in the stands.
There is still a chance that orange jerseys will show up on the field on Saturday. If a road team chooses to wear non-white uniforms as directed in the rules, they will be penalized 15 yards after each kick-off at the beginning of both halves. Maybe Kiffin decides to put his team in a bit of a hole and try it out. As poor as Alabama's special teams have played on kick-offs, this may be a good game for that. If so, good for him; it might be the first incident he's been a part of that I'd give him a little respect for.
Ultimately, Moore stands responsible. Saban gave him the power to make the choice and he decided against crimson versus white. Too bad for the fans.
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