THE RANGE
The 2024 NCAA Sideline collection was designed to support NCAA coaches and athletes across 24 sports, 3 divisions, 14 top tier NCAA schools and hundreds more collegiate, club and high school athletes.
Styles were built in spring to launch ahead of the fall 2024 athletic season, outfitting our athletes and coaches as soon as summer training camps begin. The same styles were built to be utilized through the spring and summer athletics seasons of 2025.
The range consists of classic travel, training and sideline apparel pieces that meet needs for practice, training, travel and media appearances. Designs must build in solutions that strengthen performance and execution on and off field that are specific for both the coach and the athlete.
For our 2024 line, we chose to draw on the legacy of past seasons with elevated fit, material and details, while layering in updated needs for the new year.
THE COACH AND THE ATHLETE: OUR PRIMARY NCAA SIDELINE CONSUMERS
This range was designed with direct insights from school visits, centering around the needs I had collected on visits with NCAA athletes and coaches at adidas-partnered schools. The coaches and athletes interviewed ranged between the ages of 18-65, with different gender expressions, body types, regions around the US, participating in 10-15 different sports. The complexity of this NCAA consumer creates a unique design challenge.
Coaches emphasized versatility and inclusivity in fit, sharing that they wanted their adidas team issued gear to be their preferred everyday clothing.
Athletes stressed that standing out and style were most important (while coaches needed their teams to look uniform), and comfort was a close second priority. Branding requests from athletes centered around school specific lore, vintage and throwbacks, and use of smaller logos for balance.
Though not our primary consumers, consumers such as staff, students, and fans were considered to ensure the product could seamlessly integrate into the school’s brand identity beyond performance and into each school’s culture.
DESIGN EXPLORATION
MY MUSE:
As my 10th season designing for the NCAA, I used the 2024 season to flip my process by centering initial design ideation around coaches- building them into the hero concept of the story. Common coach’s needs shaped the product direction: secure storage for essentials like pens, balls and clipboards, versatile fits, and performance materials.
COLOR USE AND DETAIL:
Early explorations and sketches for the range explored color usage that could be smart; color-blocking and small detail placements could be called out utilizing team color. This created team identity without sacrificing versatility, offering opportunity for differentiation between schools with similar color palettes.
COACH DESIGNS:
Fits and functionality follow the adidas Golf collection, a highly reviewed standard for the adidas sideline range. Body widths are more loose, with plackets, zippers and bungees added where needed to adjust fit to preference.
Materials are 100% recycled polyester, with functionality as a priority. All knit and woven materials are sweat wicking hydrophilic technology, UPF protection, and highest durability standards to ensure a professional look after a long season or wearing and washing.
New solutions around secure storage are introduced. Double layered oversized pockets in an anorak style, reengineered with a distraction free zip plackets and layering. Pen loops are tucked inside of zipper plackets to stay out of the rain, but hard to forget.
ATHLETE DESIGNS:
Design language and fit connects to the popular adidas Future Icons collection, bringing in dynamic lines, playful color, and expressive graphics.
Use of each school’s full color palette and identity created a school-specific energy that still feels fresh and unified.
Materials are 100% recycled polyester, tested for the highest standard of washing and wearing. All woven suits are a plain weave with C0 DWR and mechanical stretch. Knit suits are highly durable performance fleece with sweat wicking hydrophilic technology a smooth exterior and drape, and a soft interior handfeel.
GRAPHICS:
Team graphics fall into two formulas:
Formula 1:
Left Chest; A woven jaquard primary logo on left chest with satin embroidered edge- an economic and premium logo execution for everday product.
Secondary: discoverable detail, featuring a small sans serif font team name or location stamp with custom school icon lockup that links to our graphics range.
Formula 2:
Large center front or center back graphic lean into the athlete’s request for vintage inspired graphics- Athlete Pullover Hoodies feature a tailsweep team wordmark with high low puff screenprint, and the Athlete FZ Woven Jackets feature an arched team mascot wordmark executed as an applique with dazzle warpknit fabric and a satin stitched contrast edge.
These styles, meant to be loud and proud, also feature small sans serif font team name or custom school icon lockup.
STYLING:
Athlete, fan and coaches have responded well to thoughtful color use and customization for a unique team expression. Use of common color and graphic intentions created a natural mix and style of pieces across the collection, reflecting real-world versatility.
Product Image Gallery: university of miami
