Week One of College Football: Watches, Mouthguards & Retro Cleats

Are watches the new football accessory?

Between Auburn players rocking timepieces on field, mouthguard takeovers, and retro cleats on the field — my Nike Football brain can’t turn off. Let’s see what week 1 had in store for us.

Watches on the Field

First up: Auburn. Multiple players hit the field in watches. Not the first time we’ve seen this trend — remember the viral 7on football clip where everyone wore Apple Watches? If you want to know what’s next in football fashion, always watch flag football first.

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Of course, OBJ & Deanthony Thomas have done it in years past, but it likely won’t happen in week 2. It’s definitely a uniform violation!

The Mouthguard Power Play

Now, this is fascinating: NXTRND has mouthguards on almost every major Power Five team. Alabama. Florida State. Everywhere.

Traditionally, Nike, Under Armour, or the team sponsor controlled accessories. But NIL has blown that up.

• Ryan Williams (Alabama) is a Nike athlete, his school is a Nike school, but he’s signed to NXTRND for mouthguards.

• Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) is a signed Adidas athlete, playing at a Nike school, rocking Battle mouth guards.

We’re officially in the accessory free-for-all era.
Prediction: some athletes will sue the NCAA for the right to wear their own footwear. Currently, they’re required to wear the school sponsored brand. Given how many losses the NCAA has in court, they would likely lose this one as well.

Shifting Sponsorships

Seeing Auburn in Nike is wild after their Under Armour championship run with Cam Newton. But times change. Schools now face $20M+ deficits thanks to finally being forced into athlete revenue sharing. That means more patches, more logos, more sponsorship clutter on coaches. Get ready for uglier stadiums, fields & uniforms in the name of survival.

Cleats & Colorways

• Nike Vapor Untouchable retro: I helped with the original rollout, so seeing Georgia wear the retro knit version feels surreal. Expect more school colorways to drop.

  

• Coach Prime’s Diamond Turf Maxes: Colorado rolled out clean gold-and-black team versions. Subtle, fresh, very on-brand.

  

• Jordan Footballs: Yes, Jordan Brand is now making the official footballs for its sponsored schools. Story for another day, but it’s big for equipment nerds.

  

• Jordan Cleats: Jordan 1s and Jordan 4s are the silhouettes to watch this season.

  

• DJ Lagway x Jordan Brand: Florida’s QB signed with Jordan, making his NIL-cleat alignment seamless.

The Bigger Picture

Accessories are no longer just extras — they’re a sneaky visible foothold in the brand wars. NIL cracked the door open, and now watches, mouth guards, and cleats are carrying as much brand equity as jerseys.

Watch this space!

Education:

The BrandFathers new episode is out NOW: This week, The Fathers are back with a classic marketing roundup. Listen to them discuss Cracker Barrel/Red Lobster, Travis Kelce X American Eagle, Naomi Osaka, the US Goverment’s Chief Design Officer Appointment and more.

Blessings:

“Don’t compare your insides with everyone else’s outsides.”

This quote is such a helpful reminder in the social media era.

What season are you in right now?
The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized that there’s a season for everything.

We all want to give & receive blanket advice, but there are needs and priorities that matter more in our given life stages.
Is Corporate or Entrepreneurship better? I don’t know! Depends on your season. I wouldn’t be as good of an entrepreneur without my corporate life.
Is it most important to invest in friendships? Generally, always beneficial to invest in friendships, BUT at the short stage in my life, I’m investing in my kids and my wife. Spending weeknights & weekends with them as much as I possibly can.
I’m trying to embody and embrace the stage I’m in. I WANT to do so many things, and the tough reality is that I can anything but not everything.
This is also a helpful refining process.
May we all embrace the rhythms for the stages that we are in!