Alabama hockey helps start football's “Cold Summer” recruiting drive
The University of Alabama football team's “Cold Summer” kicked off with a pretty cool idea.
Anyone keeping an eye on the Crimson Tide's recruiting frenzy may have noticed an unusual fashion trend emerging in Tuscaloosa. Since early June, the Crimson Tide has landed 11 freshmen and welcomed several other highly-rated talents to campus, with the majority of the freshmen donning University of Alabama hockey jerseys during their stay.
This new look started as a simple goodwill and has now grown into one of Alabama's most unlikely collaborations. It all started with Joe Hughes looking for a way to put his team on the map.
Hughes is in his junior year at the University of Alabama, where he plays goalie for the university's club-level hockey team. A New Jersey native, Hughes played two years of junior hockey after high school before moving on to the University of Tuscaloosa. At that point, he knew two things about Alabama: it was a big name school and it had a good football team. Over the past two years, he's learned that there's room for hockey interest in the state if you dig deep enough.
The hard part is getting the word out: Alabama hockey would never have made an appearance in a football photoshoot without a little canvassing from Hughes himself.
The goaltender had been thinking about how to partner with the University of Alabama football program for a while, and after pitching the idea to some friends on the team, he was introduced to Alabama assistant director of recruiting Robbie Proano, who told him about Alabama's recruiting theme, “Cold Summer.” From there, the wheels started turning in his head.
“When most people think of hockey, they think of cold weather,” Hughes said. “I thought we could help them out by providing them with our old alternate jerseys that say 'Frozen Tide' on the front. It fit with their theme and I thought it would be really helpful.”
That was certainly true.
Make a cold summer
The “Cold Summer” theme for Alabama football comes from the unfavorable situation the Crimson Tide is in from a recruiting standpoint. After replacing legendary head coach Nick Saban in January, Cullen DeBoer and his staff had to play a lot of catch-up to earn the No. 2 ranking in the class they currently hold. This was never going to be a typical summer for the Crimson Tide.
“From a cold standpoint, we're going to surprise a lot of people and surprise a lot of people,” Alabama creative production director Walt Block said. “It's more of a cold summer than a hot summer, because it's going to surprise a lot of our players.”
Block joined the University of Alabama in March from Crossover Collective, a sports branding company he co-founded. A San Francisco native, he also has experience in sales with the Oakland Raiders and fundraising at Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley. He also previously held roles in the Conference USA office. Block has an eye for a good marketing idea, and when Hughes presented him with the hockey jerseys, he knew right away it would work.
“Obviously we have the Script A jerseys, but we also saw the Frozen Tide jerseys, and after I saw that I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is fate,'” Brock recalled. “We always want to do something different for our freshmen… From a fashion standpoint, this is trending right now. A lot of people are wearing hockey and lacrosse jerseys, so it's a big hit. They really added an extra layer of glamour to freshman weekend and really highlighted the cold summer.”
Breaking ice
It's unclear if Kieron Russell is the first freshman to don an Alabama hockey jersey this summer, but he certainly played a major role in inspiring the Tide's new fashion statement. The blue-chip quarterback posted a photo of himself wearing a University of Alabama hockey script A shirt during his official visit on May 31, four days before transferring to Alabama from SMU.
“When we saw it, we were like, 'Oh my God. This is huge. This is huge for us,'” Alabama general manager of hockey Will Sieg said. “We were pretty shocked.”
Hughes himself was somewhat surprised to see his plan finally come to fruition.
“I was like, 'Wow, this is really going well,'” he recalled. “It was kind of crazy when I saw a five-star freshman wearing my jersey. From there, it just kept on happening, freshman after freshman. Every freshman that put on my jersey was like, 'Wow, this is really going well.'
It's hard to keep track of all the appearances of Alabama jerseys popping up on Instagram Stories and other social media posts. Four-star linebacker Dawson Merritt posted a photo of himself wearing the jersey and even included it in his commitment graphic. Rivals 100 cornerback DeJon Lee Jr. also posed in the jersey last week before committing to the Tide.
Current Alabama stars are also getting in on the action. Last month, Alabama freshman running back Daniel Hill, who served as recruiting host for Rivals 100 back Akilin Deer, posted a photo of himself and Deer in hockey jerseys. Deer had committed to Ole Miss at the time, but rescinded his commitment last week and is now leaning to the Tide.
Among Alabama's current players, Kaydin Proctor may be the biggest fan of this new trend.
“He literally lost his mind when he saw the jersey,” Bullock said, “and luckily there was one jersey that actually fit him perfectly, I think it was a goalie jersey.”
“The jerseys have been a big hit with the team. So much so that during freshman weekend, a lot of the guys who are welcoming freshmen stop by and ask to try them on. They're like, 'Wait a minute, how do I get one of these?'
Don't worry, work has already begun.
Bigger collaboration coming soon
Hughes may have led the Alabama hockey team to its biggest win ever, but the Frozen Tide's latest exposure is just the first step in his two-part plan: Since contacting the football team, the goaltender has been working with Bullock and several others to come up with a different football-themed jersey for next season.
The project has yet to be finalized, but the new jerseys are expected to be released sometime in September. Hughes, who served as the lead designer for the jerseys, is not releasing any details for now, but he did explain that the design will add a hockey twist to the Crimson Tide's timeless football traditions.
“We're not going too crazy with the myriad things going on,” Hughes said. “It's a nice, clean hockey-style jersey with a little bit of a football theme. I think everyone is going to love the design once we officially release it.”
The University of Alabama football team also plans to reciprocate the hockey team's support in recruiting: In addition to cheering on the Frozen Tide on social media, several football players will be involved in the unveiling of new hockey jerseys that will eventually be released.
“At the end of the day, Script A is very strong,” Bullock said. “The family here is tight-knit, and if there's an opportunity to be unique and still support multiple programs and make a good impression on Alabama sports in general, we're going to pursue it.”
The Alabama hockey team's official schedule is set to be released on Monday, with three teams — Louisville, Oklahoma and Oregon — traveling to the team's home rink in Pelham, Ala. The Frozen Tide stole the show this summer and are hoping to grab fans' attention again this fall.
“It's a great opportunity to get more exposure for Alabama hockey and get more people in the South exposed to the sport,” Hughes said. “Everybody knows Alabama football, so to be associated with them is an honor that our team will be forever grateful for. I can't wait to see the team wear it and see the whole team take part in this.”
