EUGENE -- Between a 4-8 record and uniforms that incorporated blue and orange, Oregon football didn't look much like itself in 2016.



The Ducks' record this fall under new coach Willie Taggart is anyone's guess. Yet their uniforms they'll be wearing, while still considered top secret by Oregon and Nike and described only in general terms, are said to be veering into more traditional territory after the varying hues worn last season drew praise, but also criticism.



"We're going to try to stick to more traditional colors this year," Kenny Farr, UO's football equipment administrator, said last week after a spring football practice. "Trying to kind of simplify a few things but still keep it modern and keep it looking really good."



At Oregon, "traditional" could mean anything from silver and highlighter green to kelly green and yellow. The Ducks wore silver and white in the 2015 College Football Playoff national championship game, and for years, fans have cheered as Oregon zigged when other programs zagged. Theme uniforms, such as those supporting breast cancer awareness in 2013 and 2014, were hits that raised money, too.



Last season, however, the reception for some of UO's new duds was tepid, a reaction that was likely intertwined with the team's struggles on the field, as well. After UO unveiled a black, yellow and navy blue kit in October, featuring a state flag on the helmet and created to honor UO's old-time football history, a headline on Addicted to Quack, SBNation's Ducks-centric fansite, suggested a raised eyebrow: "Oregon's uniforms have gotten out of hand this year, and that's saying something."

Given the attention UO uniforms have received ever since they created college football's uniform craze in 1999 by introducing a helmet inspired by a mallard's iridescent head -- this news organization created a UO uniform tracker -- Farr wasn't about to go into detail on UO's upcoming uniforms. Instead, to whet fans' appetites, he noted obliquely that in 2017 "we're not going to go anything out of the traditional Oregon palette. ... we have some great stuff coming."

And blue and orange, he said, are out.





Fans will get their first look at some of the new uniforms during the April 29 spring game at Autzen Stadium (11 a.m., broadcast on Pac-12 Networks).



Farr described that look as "kind of a throwback to some old things we've done" -- while noting that, at Oregon, the definition of "retro" is loose.



"It's weird," he said with a laugh. "A throwback here could be 2010."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif