HOUSTON – The Texans have gone beyond the exploratory phase for potential new looks for their uniforms, which involves seeking opinions on colors, jersey and helmet design.
They’re on a fast-track process that could give them new uniforms as soon as the 2024 season with a potential to unveil them that offseason.
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The message from fans is clear:
“We want the guys on Sunday to have a little extra swag,” Texans senior vice president of marketing and communications Doug Vosik told KPRC 2 following a presentation he led with local media that discussed the process and research that has gone into these potential changes for the AFC South franchise’s brand.
Although no details can be shared at this time about possible changes to the Texans’ uniform, which remain in a developmental stage, Vosik is encouraged by the process.
The Texans are embracing the opinions and insight of fans from social media, surveys, focus groups along with opinions from retired Texans Legends to get their input and feedback.
#Texans undergoing detailed process toward new uniforms as soon as 2024. Accelerated process involves NFL, Texans, Nike designers. Team previewed process for local media w/ no details to be shared publicly. Senior vice president of marketing and communications Doug Vosik @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/7xuqpkRf3q
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 13, 2023
“Honestly, it’s been an absolutely great process so far,” Vosik said. “When you think about what we’ve been doing this season has been really tapping into fan insight and fan sentiment. There’s no denying, if you listen to the fans, they’re giving us that feedback every day on Twitter, every day on Reddit, every time we do cool merch. They’re saying, ‘We want change. We want something new. We want the guys on Sunday to have a little extra swag.’
“In the future, they’re excited about what that could look like. We’ve spent the last couple of months doing focus groups with fans of all kinds, super fans to casual fans. We’ve had thousands of people answer our surveys and universally they’re saying: ‘We’re excited for change.’ They’ll have their own idea what change means but overall they’re saying: ‘Lets see what the Houston Texans can look like.’”
More from #Texans senior vice president of marketing and communications Doug Vosik on research, plans and process toward new uniforms perhaps as soon as 2024 @HoustonTexans @TexansPresident @KPRC2 @KPRC2RandyMc @KPRC2Ari https://t.co/OBlQxgTJbZ pic.twitter.com/BulC8uZFYp
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 13, 2023
The Texans got an enthusiastic response to their Battle Red helmets and uniforms they unveiled for a Thursday night game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Texans considering potential uniform changes
The Texans have featured the Deep Steel Blue, Liberty White, and Battle Red uniforms.
In the wake of a painful 3-13-1 season, the Texans are hoping that their potential new uniform can coincide with team improvements on the field.
“Of course, the guys, especially the young guys, they want that swagger right?” Vosik said. “As this team improves every single year and they start really winning, imagine a fresh new look to go with that at the same time and they get super excited. The thing is we did a similar sharing session and focus group with our Texans Legends.
“We had 50 legends in town for homecoming weekend and we shared what we’re thinking about what we’re working on. Even the players from 18 years ago, 20 years ago literally bled in these uniforms were like, ‘Yo, let’s do something different. let’s change things up. I had those same questions when I played here. It’s cool to see y’all do something different.’ It’s really interesting to see how that fan insight matched the player insight both young and old.”
Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair had acknowledged previously that the AFC South franchise is considering making uniform changes during a Reddit session.
“We have already engaged the NFL to better understand the process to formally start a fan research study and the timeline and guidelines if the fan research steered towards change,” McNair said in September. “No promises but we will challenge everything, and we won’t be afraid to evolve.”
What’s next in the process? The Texans have spent the past four to five months doing research. Now, the design process is starting.
“‘We officially kicked off the design process with Nike and the NFL recently on the uniforms,” Vosik said. " They’re going to spend a couple of months dreaming the dream, based on the insights we gave them from all the fan research. They’re designing, especially with the insight we got from the fans, once they do that for a couple of months and show some designs we’ll get some more feedback, give them a little nudge on where to steer things.
“Who knows? Maybe in nine to 10 months we’ll actually have a sample to look at. Who knows? After that, April 2024 is not too far around. So, could that be the spark of a new look and a new season for the Texans? Maybe.”
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
