‘Just gear’: Why Notre Dame football players are pleased with Under Armour
Sam Hartman didn’t know the question was coming. But like a veteran QB rolling under a blindside blitz and firing a strike downfield for a positive pickup, the sixth-year graduate student Notre Dame quarterback expertly navigated the unexpected snag and knew just what to do with it.
So Sam, what’s it been like playing in Under Armour-branded cleats and accessories for the last eight months at Notre Dame after five years of sporting Phil Knight‘s Nike swoosh at Wake Forest?
“Ah, it’s just gear,” Hartman said.
He repeated the last three words. Then the last two.
“It’s just gear. Just gear.”
Blue & Gold prodded for more. A high-profile quarterback and a creature of habit like Hartman hasn’t altered his attitude or performance for the worse after half a decade of being equipped by the No. 1 apparel supplier in college athletics only to switch to a company that doesn’t sponsor even a third of the total number of schools Nike outfits?
“Just gear,” Hartman said once more.
He’s not the only one who thinks that way despite a large faction of the Notre Dame fan base voicing disapproval at the extension of the Fighting Irish’s contract with Under Armour for another 10 years, an agreement made official in early August.
Notre Dame freshman wide receiver Jaden Greathouse set all kinds of records with the Nike logo on his chest — and feet and hands, for that matter — at Texas high school football powerhouse Austin Westlake. You’d think a wideout who went for 232 catches, 4,035 yards and 53 touchdowns in four years would want to stick with the equipment that helped make those gaudy statistics possible. You’d think Greathouse would be Nike for life.
Think again.
“Clothes are clothes,” Greathouse said in his own version of Hartman’s ‘just gear’ tagline. “It doesn’t really have an effect on me. The cleats feel great. I really have no complaints. They always take care of us and give us nice gear. I have no complaints about Under Armour.”
Obviously, the last thing a student-athlete wants to do is rip all over the brand that just inked a decade-long extension on a contract that was first set into motion by Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick in 2014. Especially a freshman who has his entire Notre Dame career ahead of him.
South Florida graduate transfer kicker Spencer Shrader, meanwhile, has less to lose. He’s only going to be in South Bend for one season. He spent the last four at USF, which is also a Nike school. He was open about his adjustment to Under Armour, a brand he had never competed in before.
“[Notre Dame head equipment manager Chris Bacsik] gave me about seven pairs of cleats to try when I first got here,” Shrader said. “I just went through the lineup and I found one that I was comfortable with, which are the ones I’m wearing now. They don’t even make them anymore, so he’s ordering them off eBay for me.”
Specialist-preferred cleats is an area Under Armour isn’t up to par with compared to Nike and Adidas. Specialists wear soccer-style cleats for kicking, and Under Armour isn’t a soccer-heavy brand. Hence, it’s 2023 and a Notre Dame football player — one as important as the starting kicker — has to get his cleats off eBay. That’s not exactly a foolproof way of providing paraphernalia.
Shrader isn’t the only Irish specialist who has had such issues.
“It’s a little more difficult to find a cleat I really like,” Notre Dame sophomore punter Bryce McFerson said. “We have three or four that are great options versus maybe Nike and Adidas will have 12 or 13 because they’re really big brands. But it hasn’t been a big deal at all.”
That’s the most important thing. It still hasn’t been a big deal at all.
The starting quarterback didn’t make it one. A trusted wide receiver who will catch plenty of passes from that starting quarterback this fall if spring ball and fall camp production are indicators of in-season performance level didn’t make it one. Even the placekicker who had to try on seven pairs of cleats didn’t make it one.
A specialist going through half a dozen or more cleats before finding the right pair could very well be occurring for kickers at universities supplied by Nike and Adidas, by the way. When it comes to kicking, everyone has different preferences and needs in terms of what goes on the foot. It becomes less about brand and more about fit, regardless of logos.
“The main thing was the equipment staff doing an awesome job of getting me right and feeling comfortable on the field,” Shrader said. “It’s really just what you’re comfortable in. These have better ankle support and they mold to my foot a little better. All is good.”
‘I love Under Armour’
All is good for Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, too.
“I’ve been wearing Under Armour since my time at Cincinnati,” Freeman said. “We were an Under Armour school when I was there. Throughout this entire process of the apparel deal, I’ve been in communication with Jack. I trust Jack Swarbrick. He’s going to do what’s best for Notre Dame. That’s exactly what he’s done.”
Yahoo Sports reported Notre Dame’s new deal with Under Armour could be the most lucrative apparel sponsorship in college athletics. Obviously, money is a huge reason for any university to pair with a supplier. Doing right by the student-athletes is also high on the list. Freeman, of course, wants what’s best for them as much as anybody. Their well-being directly affects his own.
Freeman is only in year two, and he’s already developed into a think-about-everything, CEO-type head coach. He seems to have more pull in the goings-on in South Bend now than he did 12 to 18 months ago when everything was still so new to him.
When Notre Dame’s exclusive negotiating window with Under Armour expired over the summer, Swarbrick asked Freeman for input on the direction the Irish should go with the new contract.
“I’m like, ‘Jack, listen, I have no problem with Under Armour,’” Freeman said. “‘I love Under Armour. And I know you’re going to do what’s right for our players and for our athletic department.’ And that’s what he did.”
There are several players on the Notre Dame roster who are in Freeman’s camp; Under Armour is nothing new to them. Senior wide receiver Chris Tyree wore Under Armour in high school. So did running backs Jadarian Price, a sophomore from Denison (Texas) High School, and Jeremiyah Love, a freshman from St. Louis Christian Brothers College.
Those are three of the fastest players on the Notre Dame roster. They’re bound to leave several opponents in the dust this season, and when they do the foes playing catch-up will be left staring at Under Armour logos on the bottom of the Irish speedsters’ cleats.
Love is the self-proclaimed fastest player on the Notre Dame offense. His personal record 10.76-second 100-meter dash won him the Missouri Class 5 state title. He also ran for 1,291 yards and 22 touchdowns on 9.2 yards per carry and caught 13 passes for 370 yards and five more scores as a senior in St. Louis.
All while wearing wearing Under Armour.
“Shoot, I’ve been in Under Armour basically the whole time,” Love said. “I’ve grown accustomed to it. It’s a great brand.”
Under Armour will rarely be the reason why Notre Dame doesn’t land a top recruit. Love was the No. 5 running back in the country per the On3 Industry Ranking, and he’s in Blue and Gold.
“I care what I wear but I really just choose a school for the school rather than the brand,” Love said. “If you’re a big person on what you wear, then I would most definitely consider that when looking into schools. But for me, it wasn’t really, ‘This school was sponsored by Nike or Under Armour. I don’t want to go there.’ It didn’t really matter to me.”
Price was the No. 13 overall running back in 2022 per the On3 Industry Ranking. Like Love, he’s not at Notre Dame so he could simply stick with Under Armour. Also like Love, he clearly wasn’t dying to jump ship to a Nike or Adidas school. Price is at Notre Dame because … it’s Notre Dame.
His senior stats at Denison, per MaxPreps: 193 carries, 1,803 yards, 18 touchdowns. Twenty-seven catches, 327 yards and one more score. Brought to you by Under Armour, nonetheless.
“I’ve been wearing Under Armour since seventh grade,” Price said. “I haven’t worn another brand since. So that’s what I’m used to. If we were to change — before they came out with the deal or whatever — it is what it is. I’m still going to go out there and ball and do what I have to do. It doesn’t matter what I got on.
“Under Armour’s a good brand. I wear it outside of football. It’s comfortable. That’s what I’m used to. I’m pretty excited with what we’re doing in the future with Under Armour.”
The bottom line is there isn’t anything Under Armour supplies that comes as a disadvantage to Notre Dame student-athletes competing against opponents who don Nike or Adidas. Notre Dame didn’t lose out on two of the best tailbacks in the last two recruiting classes because of its apparel deal. And for what it’s worth, Tyree was the No. 8 RB in the class of 2020. He ascended to that ranking with assistance from Under Armour too.
“I feel pretty good in it,” Tyree said.
Remember, it’s just gear. Clothes are clothes.
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