When Nike takes on a rebranding effort they don't take things lightly.
To players the word "rebranding" likely means getting some new uniforms and helmets, but to Nike, there's a science behind it. An enormous amount of research and time goes into these efforts. Recently, Nike took on the rebranding of the Fighting Illini and the university took an outstanding look at the thought process that went into the new look in this video.
"The first thing that I think this rebranding does is that it gives us an opportunity to establish the history of this university and this athletic program that we have, and the future. A lot of times this rebranding means that you're getting a new look and those types of things, but what else is does for me is it enables the future Illini to know a bit about our past and the great history that we have in athletics." Tim Beckman explained.
There's also a ton of great insight from Josh Iverson, the senior graphic designer for Nike NCAA football, on the Nike train of thought behind their rebranding.