Colorado's Arden Walker teases brand new Nike uniforms for 2024 season

Deion Sanders and Colorado will be upgrading their look next year

Cris Tiller / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Colorado Buffaloes are preparing for the 2024 football season and will have a new look to ring in Coach Prime's second year in Boulder. We knew about Nike's anticipated re-release of Deion Sanders' signature Diamond Turf line this summer, but there will also be new uniform sets for the Buffs.

Arden Walker told DNVR he got a peek at the initial designs while strolling through CU's equipment room last week and said they're totally different from the traditional ones. It's certainly good that Nike is committing more resources to the Buffs. Colorado was due for some changes, especially with Coach Prime returning as a major brand rep for the world's biggest outfitter. “They’re sweet I’m not gonna lie," he said. 

He knows a thing of two about CU history. He grew up seeing the same uniforms over the years and is the only legacy on CU's roster coming from Cherry Creek HS. His father, Art Walker, was on CU's 1989 Orange Bowl team and was part of the Texas Pipeline for Bill McCartney. 

Arden Walker on the new uniforms

“They’re sweet I’m not gonna lie” 👀 pic.twitter.com/HyQBcjvp61

— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) February 1, 2024

Many have speculated what designs might be incorporated next season. If they're inspired by the Diamond Turf 3 shoes, this could be one of the best uniforms in college athletics and rival what Oregon has been given over the past decade. Sanders pushed to have more metallic accents in Colorado's jerseys last year, which was an absolute hit with the young, fly, and flashy crowd. It was the first major change in over three decades.

Three months ago, Coach Prime was asked directly if he could use his influence to get Nike to make a “Black and Colorado Gold” colorway for the Nike DT3's in 2024? He went on to say that may be in the works and give a hint by explaining how the uniforms are “Phenomenal” and will “match the shoes”. If that is to be interpreted as it was heard, this could be the first time that has ever happened in the history of organized sports jerseys. Let that sink in.

The Nike Air Diamond Turf 3 (specifically) was the first shoe of its kind, and it absolutely would influence every single performance football cleat that has come through since 1994. This would mark another massive design first. The notion of a signature shoe design being informed by the jersey is nothing new.

In 1984 when Nike designed the original Nike Air Jordan 1, they specifically drew inspiration from the existing Chicago Bulls jersey. So much so that Nike agreed to pay any fines in advance due to the NBA’s 51% white rule. They even made a shoe that was banned by the NBA because it was almost completely black and red. The jersey informing the shoe is nothing new. Throughout the 2023 NFL Playoffs, QB Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions wore Honolulu blue and silver Jordan 10s. That is not a new idea. However, the shoe informing the jersey would be an industry first. Allowing Sanders to once again put his own stamp on the athletic shoe/apparel industry.

Coach Prime puts an emphasis on "new focus" to start the 2024 offseason

The remaining huge question is, ‘how’ does the shoe inform the jersey? Well Colorado has essentially had some variation of the same jerseys going back decades. The font used in “Colorado” and the player’s name plate has been less than ideal for decades. Since day one, Sanders has made it clear that he wants as many jersey combinations as possible. Even referencing Oregon as the example of uniform changes and combinations. You can even look back to Jackson State. They had no shortage of uniform combinations. To the point that he doesn’t want them wearing the same jersey combination more than once a season. Think back to last season when they debuted the black helmets with shiny “Colorado” gold facemasks and logos. They only wore it once, against Arizona State. The “Miami Sharks” look, they only wore once. It was against Nebraska.

There are a few design features to consider just from what we know of the Diamond Turf 3 release expected this summer and from the cleats the team will wear in the fall. The first and most obvious is the “Prime” branded accents that have made their way to the 2024 release that were not present in the original. Most notably on the heel counter pull tab it reads “PRIME” with the incorporated “21” in the logo. Admittedly, there are some NCAA regulations preventing branded logos from appearing on the jerseys. An interesting wrinkle could be inside the jersey, not visible to viewers once the jersey is on the player. That’s something Nike has done with NFL jerseys for a while now.

One way or the other, Nike and Coach Prime seem to be on the same page design wise. Which should mean something new, bold and exciting is coming to Boulder for the 2024 season. If in fact, the design of a 30-year-old signature shoe does actually inform the design of a new uniform (and not the other way around), this could be another move the needle “design first” for Deion Sanders and his PRIME brand.