Vanderbilt Commodores Unveil “Battle Ready” Alternate Football Uniforms

The Vanderbilt Commodores unveiled brand new “Battle Ready” alternate uniforms during the football program’s annual fan event, Dore Jam, on Saturday afternoon.

In order to realize the worth of the anchor, we need to feel the stress of the storm.

Battle ready. ⚓️#RTI | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/DZRdkXU4ST
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) August 10, 2019

The all-gray uniforms follow the same design template as the black home and white road set Vanderbilt unveiled back in early June, with a custom font and sublimated anchors on the contrasting sleeve caps and in the numbers. The only difference is the phrase “Anchor Down” on the pant leg rather than an anchor chain pattern and the contrasting name plate on the back of the uniform.

The steel gray helmet is painted to mimic the facade of a battleship, with 82 rivets included as a nod to late Commodores tight end Turner Cockrell, who died last November after a year-long battle with melanoma. It’s finished off with a black anchor on both sides, black chain stripe and black face mask.

“In order to realize the worth of the anchor, we need to feel the stress of the storm,” head coach Derek Mason said during the event. “Rivets are the strength of the ship, (so we have) 82 rivets for our strength and our rock Turner Cockrell, who was always battle ready.”

The Commodores did not announce the date(s) they plan to wear these uniforms, which we should note do not include what looks like a sublimated water pattern in the screenshots below — that’s just an overlay added in post-production of the promotional video.