Pioneers Unveil New Uniforms
“All in all, the best part is the players’ reaction and how they’ll feel when they put the jerseys on. A pretty decent football player one time said, ‘If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good,’” said Belew.
Look good, play good. Coach Eric Belew is hoping the old cliché can provide another boost for the Pioneer football program in 2026.
Warren County unveiled its new uniforms to the public on the football team’s Facebook page Wednesday night (wchspioneersfb), showing off the new home and away threads the Pioneers will be wearing under the Friday night lights this fall.
Coach Belew made it a mission to get the uniforms updated once he got to town and it will happen when the team hits the gridiron in Year 2 of the Belew era, which starts in less than 100 days in Smithville.
“The big plan was to make it feel like ‘Warren County.’ We want to keep a uniform theme from now on like Notre Dame and Penn State. We want people to know when they see our uniforms from afar, they will say, ‘Yep - that is Warren County.’ So the script is here to stay,” said Belew.
It didn’t take long for Belew to know he made the right choice. The reactions from the players have been positive, including many upperclassmen who got to participate in a photoshoot to debut the look. Fans have already been sharing their love for the jerseys too, but Belew’s main concern was making sure the kids were comfortable and excited about the change.
“All in all, the best part is the players’ reaction and how they’ll feel when they put the jerseys on. A pretty decent football player one time said, ‘If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good,’” said Belew.
For years, the Pioneers have cycled through new looks, usually coinciding with a new coach. There have been different versions of blackout uniforms, powder blues - one of the many shades of blue the Pioneers have used in the last two decades - several reds and different iterations of fonts and scripts for the numbers and letters.
These new jerseys, which the players got to be involved with during the design process, are a statement in simplicity according to the coach.
“No outline on the numbers, no shoulder design - we are who we are. The jerseys are the top-of-the-line Nike custom jerseys, but the only statement we want to make is that we are who we are,” said Belew. “All of the great people in this county are all we need. It just so happens that look, in my opinion, is the best-looking uniform possible for us.”
Belew added he took a lot of inspiration from SMU, a program with the same color patterns Warren County has traditionally used.
Don’t expect to see the powder blues go by the wayside though. There will still be nights when the Pioneers break out the jerseys which have become a team favorite since their debut a few years back.
“We’re planning on keeping the powder blues - the players love those,” said Belew. “I think an away alternate will be what we need next so we’re not wearing the same jersey five or more times a year.”
Warren County kicks off the season Friday, Aug. 21 at DeKalb County. In partnership with the Upper Cumberland Reporter, the WCSA trio of Jeff Simmons, Chris Sullens and Trevor Evans will serve as a broadcast team for Pioneer football games this fall.
