2022 Athletic Director Suit Ranking
Fashion is not something that is only left to the players taking the field on Saturdays in the fall. Sometimes, the best dressed Trojan on a given day doesn’t even take the field. He may be in any number of places around the stadium: the sidelines, the box seats, walking 15 miles around The Vet itself. Our fearless leader, Brent Jones, finds a way to ensure that his fashion sense and his sense of duty to the University are on the same level every time he walks on campus on gameday.
#14 vs WKU
In one of his more casual outings befitting an October evening, Mr. Jones went with a simpler look as compared to some of his later looks. He opted for a nice cardinal pinstripe polo with the Power T under a white quarter zip pullover with the lovely Troy script and thin cardinal pinstripes on it. He paired these with the cardinal Troy belt and what I have to assume were khakis, although they aren’t pictured.
He finished this look off with one of his main pairs of cardinal Adidas sneakers, because if there is one thing this man knows, it’s branding.
#13 vs Arkansas State
The casual look came back to end the season for what was thought of as a casual game (the fourth quarter was at least!) against Arkansas State to end the season. Brent’s use of the cardinal pants are what really pushes this one to be the better of the casual options he wore in 2022.
Brent brought back the quarter zip pullover from the WKU game and made something brand new out of this with the cardinal slacks. He also had a pair of Adidas sneakers that featured the all cardinal vamp and the white outsole that made the shoe pop with this combination.
#11/12 vs ULM and That Team in Mobile
This is the first of the traditional suit combinations and this is where the list gets difficult because all of these are great looks that I myself would probably not be able to pull off. This is also unique because it’s one of the only times he wore the same exact suit twice, depending on the pants worn at ULM.
One note before diving into the remaining suits is that Brent Jones is a man of pocket squares. The pocket square might not be as large a trend as it used to be, but it won’t be dying anytime soon if Brent has anything to say about it. The man can rock some awesome pocket square combinations like no one else.
The grey jacket with the patterned squares paired really well with the checkered cardinal and white button down under it. The script Troy pin lets everyone know whose side Mr. Jones is on, as if the cardinal didn’t make it clear. His slacks aren’t posted in this photo, but based on the photo from Mobile, I’d have to assume he went with cardinal under the grey jacket for ULM. His shoes are the same great shoes from the Arkansas State game.
#9/10 vs UL & Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt Championship Game)
In probably one of his more formal looks of the season, Brent went with a traditional look twice. I’m going to assume he went with the more traditional suit combination for the Sun Belt Championship Game because he knew he’d be up on a podium at the end of the game.
In the first appearance of The Cardinal Jacket on this list, Brent paired it with cardinal and white checkered shirt from the past entry. He brought back the Troy script pin and even found a pocket square to almost match the shirt.
The khakis look nice, but don’t reflect his sense of style as much as a pair of grey slacks might have, but in the South, we wear khakis a lot, so it makes sense he would wear them twice with this combo too.
#8 vs App State
While I prefer the checkered shirt over a plain white button down, I cannot in any form or fashion deride anyone for wearing a suit jacket over a long sleeved shirt in September. For that, this combination surpasses the Coastal look. The shoes help to complete the business casual look for this clever early season look.
It also didn’t hurt that it was featured in probably my favorite reaction shot of the season. Yeah, this sucked at the moment, but we have 12 wins and a ring, so I’m good.
#7 vs Texas State
If there was any day to pull out a load of cardinal that wasn’t “United in Cardinal”, it’s Homecoming. This also marks the first (of only two from what I found) appearance of a tie in any of his combinations. The cardinal and grey checker tie paired well with the white shirt and cardinal jacket.
One small detail I noticed is that with nearly every suit jacket, save three or four, Brent went with the Troy script lapel pin rather than the Power T. Nothing really to read into there, just an observation.
These are probably my second favorite Adidas kicks that Brent wore throughout the season. The white striping makings for a great look, but the selling point here is that retro Adidas logo on the tongue.
#6 vs Alabama A&M
Speaking of United in Cardinal, here is that look now. Based on the pocket square, I assume that this look is nearly identical to the tied suits at #9/10 on our list. That would mean a return of the cardinal and white checkered shirt under The Cardinal Jacket.
The biggest changes here are the appearance of the leather belt and the return of the shoes from the WKU game. This combination works to put cardinal at the forefront of the suit, which is the whole point of the day.
#4/5 vs Marshall & UTSA
While not The Cardinal Jacket, this lighter version provided a nice change in the typical jacket lineup for Brent. The white shirt absolutely pops under this jacket. He even went with a plain white pocket square in this as well.
There are no pants pictured, but I would assume this was a khakis look. The Troy belt makes another appearance and the look is capped off with the shoes. The cardinal and white Adidas make the fourth and finest (so far) pair of shoes he has worn so far on this list.
Brent would bring back this look for the 14th game of the season, a special occasion to repeat a combination if any. (Reminder: This is the first time we’ve played 14 games since 1996.)
#3 vs Army
Brent’s look for Army is a bit of a confusing one. I found two photos featuring two different suits: one from during the day and the other from later in the night. If this man changed suits midway through the day, then this is an all the more impressive entry.
Suit #1 featured the grey jacket over a white shirt. He accentuated this look with a light red tie and cardinal pocket square. The grey jacket works well over the khakis and this is further set off by the cardinal and white Adidas.
In a moment captured from what I believe is Army’s missed field goal at the end of the game, You can see that Brent kept the white shirt and cardinal and white Adidas, but changed most everything else.
The Cardinal Jacket reappears, as does the Troy belt. This time though, he pairs this with what I’m fairly certain is the only appearance of blue pants on this list. We don’t usually don too much blue in Troy, but this was not a bad use of it here.
#2 vs Southern Miss
Outside of The Cardinal Jacket, this is probably my favorite one that Brent wore all season. The cardinal and grey checkered pattern provided a nice look and brought out the school colors in a clever way. He smartly only went with a white shirt under this jacket, as anything patterned would’ve been too busy.
I would think based on other looks that Brent would’ve went khakis with this, but cardinal wouldn’t have been bad either. He finished the ensemble off with the fifth pair of shoes on this list. They are very similar to the shoes from the previous two entries, but they don’t have white on the top of the back of the shoe and the Adidas three stripes are black. These shoes perfectly matched up with the jacket and shirt combination tying the whole thing together.
#1 vs Ole Miss
This look is nearly identical to the UL/CCU look, but the thing that sets this apart from them are the shoes. These are the sixth (and final) pair of shoes on this list and the most impressive from a visual standpoint. These are very different from every other shoe on this list. These are leather formal shoes that definitely befit a season-opening look. Gotta start with your best.
I know this was an away game, but when you consider how much Brent walks during games, these shoes are even more impressive for gameday attire.
The teams get most of the love when it comes to writing articles here at The Trojan Wall, but we wanted to throw a little at our AD. Brent has done a phenomenal job leading Troy for the past four years. Hopefully, he will continue to do so for many years to come and this can become a fun little treat beside our typical football uniform rankings.