Written Q&A: Kenny Farr, Oregon Equipment Administrator
A conversation with Farr about throwback uniforms, Chip Kelly's font preferences, Dan Lanning's style, the coolest era of Oregon football and why the 2012 Rose Bowl helmets had him so worried.
Hey all,
Thanks again for reading, listening and supporting here during the offseason. This morning our podcast with Oregon equipment director Kenny Farr went live. You can listen to that here.
Here are a few of the written highlights for those who prefer to read.
What’s the most random thing you have in your office?
Former player Tim Day has worked his way up to where he’s a big dog at Nike working in global basketball, but he used to work on Manny Pacquiao’s line. He gave me one of Manny’s boxing shoes — like one of his real deal boxing shoes. So I found that the other day and put it out there. That’s probably the most random thing.
What jerseys were left on the design room table?
We used to do a spring game military theme. And one time we were going to do one that was a tie-dye jersey. It ended up being where it looked like it was the military against the hippies, so that wasn’t such a good option and we didn’t end up doing that one. There’s been a few over the years that we’ve tried and, you know, not everything goes together. People can be like, “You have six helmets, six pants and six jerseys — you can mix them all together.” But it really doesn’t work like that. Sometimes it just doesn’t look right. I always tell the guys I’d rather wear something that looks really good twice than wearing something different to just be different every week.
There were a lot of people calling for the 1994 Rose Bowl throwback uniforms for the 2019 Rose Bowl team. How come that didn’t happen? Did fans just get ahead of themselves?
That’s one where you got a little bit ahead of yourselves. Uniform planning is like 18 to 24 months out. It’s never going to be a thing where we just decide, “Hey, we’re going to wear this throwback uniform or new uniform for this bowl game.” Those things are planned two years out. I wish it was that easy. It could be a lot of fun to do it like that.
Well, especially because I know you’re fond of those uniforms, too.
I’ve just been here for a long time. It takes me back to my old days.
Of the six head coaches you’ve been here for, who took the most interest in the uniform side of things?
Coach Kelly really wanted a lot of input in fonts on t-shirts and stuff like that. That was right when I first started and, to be honest, it was a little bit of, “Fake it until you make it” mode for me. Looking back on it now, it was always interesting that he really wanted to be involved in the design process and was very particular about things.
And fashion wise? You know, Coach Lanning, man, he’s young and likes all the same stuff the players do. He’s not a guy that just doesn’t care and will throw on just whatever is in his locker. He likes certain things and I try to find the right mix of things to give him some good options.
What is it like for you when there is a new coaching staff? I was reading an old Daily Emerald story from like 12 years ago that began with a lead of Chip Kelly yelling at you for not being quick enough with a replacement air horn at practice. I imagine it takes some time to learn each coach’s idiosyncrasies.
There are some long days and I think it was a lot harder many years back. I mean, Coach Lanning is now my sixth head coach and I’ve seen just about everything there is to see. What I try to teach to my students and the guys who work for me is that first impressions mean a lot. We’re going to go out of our way to provide the perfect service for them, learn what they like and work really hard to try and be a strength. We want them to know that the care factor is high and that we’re going to do an outstanding job for them.
That’s really what you manage day by day and hour by hour, you try and educate them on what’s available and what we can do at Oregon. I mean, I’m at Oregon. Most of these coaches that come here from other places are ecstatic because of the things that we can offer them here. It’s a big bonus for me versus someone that’s going from Oregon to another school.
One of my favorite stories you’ve told me is when you were worried the referees weren’t going to allow the chrome helmets at the 2012 Rose Bowl.
Man, it wasn’t even just that. So, we had seen the samples of the helmet and it was super exciting because it was kind of new. Nobody had done that before. And then we took it outside and it was like, wow, this is pretty cool. But it was like a September/October Eugene, Oregon day. It was totally overcast. It looked good. And then we’re going out the morning of the Rose Bowl and there’s not a cloud in the sky. And man, it wasn’t even just the referees, it was our own players. We’re walking around with all these mirrors all over the field.
But it worked out all right. The good thing is I was more worried about Coach [Brett] Bielema at Wisconsin making a big fuss about it. We didn’t have a backup set of game helmets and if there would have been an issue we would have had to wear our practice helmets in the Rose Bowl. That would have been a little rough.
Why were LeBron James and Dwayne Wade on the sidelines in 2011 for the USC game?
That was the NBA lockout season so they weren’t playing basketball. I think they were up at Nike for a basketball meeting. And the way I understood it, Mr. Knight was like, “Hey, come and watch this game.” It was just really crazy to see. You got these guys walking down the tunnel and playing catch on the field. That was pretty cool.
Was that the coolest era of Oregon football?
Yeah. In the sense of, it was so trendy. I mean, I used to meet all the time with EA Sports because they wanted to go through what to do for the next version of the college football game. You’re kind of the tip of the spear. It was so cool.
It’s wild to think that the guys here now are like, “Oh, when I watched this game I was eight years old.” But there’s probably a lot of kids that loved Oregon or Oregon football, tuned in to see the really fast and exciting football and the cool uniforms, and probably couldn’t even point out Oregon on a map. They just know Oregon for that stuff.
If it sparks interest in a kid, I think that’s the whole point of doing it. There are a lot of teams out there that are traditional and they’re never going to change anything and I certainly respect that. But when you’re kind of making a tradition out of not being traditional, I think it’s unique to Oregon. Then we started a trend, because every team that wasn’t a blue blood saw the model and said they were going to step it up.
Then everyone is wearing chrome helmets…
I think these helmet manufacturers owe me a few dinners or something.
What keeps you doing this job?
I just feel like it’s a privilege, you know? I got some wise words a long time ago that I always took to heart: I need the team way more than the team needs me. So I appreciate the opportunity that I have just to be in a place like Oregon and I don’t know if I’d have the same desires if I was at a different school, to be honest with you. I really care about Oregon. So that’s why I haven’t moved at all. Things happen in college football. Coaches leave. Players transfer. I’m just an Oregon purest. I embrace the part of being a legacy, where I can connect the past and present so when the older guys come back — I mean, there’s not many faces that they know around here…so being the person that kind of connects past and present, I really enjoy and embrace that.
— Tyson Alger
This was an awesome interview, thanks for sharing it with us!
Good work, Tyson. You keep finding the good stories.