Cal Is Bringing Back the Joe Roth Uniforms Against UCLA, and They Are the Best Throwback of the Year

via Cal Football

Cal announced on Wednesday that it is bringing back the Joe Roth uniforms for the season opener against UCLA, and this is the best throwback any program has revealed this offseason. It is also the one with the most behind it.

Every uniform photo in this post comes from Cal's official reveal. These are the school's images, not ColorWay Sports originals.

Who Joe Roth Was

If you do not know the name, this is the part that matters.

Joe Roth was Cal's starting quarterback in 1975 and 1976. He finished ninth in Heisman Trophy voting in 1976. He was also playing with melanoma, and he died in February 1977, at 21 years old.

His No. 12 is the only retired number in the history of Cal football. Not one of a few. The only one.

Cal has honored him with these uniforms for years, traditionally saving them for the home game against UCLA or USC. Then UCLA and USC left for the Big Ten, Cal left for the ACC, and those games fell off the schedule. The uniform effectively went into storage with them.

UCLA is on the Week 1 schedule in 2026. The tradition comes back with it.

The Uniform

via Cal Football

The patch is the whole thing. A football outline in gold, a blue block C inside it, and 12 inside the C. No name, no dates, no memorial text. If you know, you know, and if you do not, it just reads as a clean vintage mark. That is a much harder thing to design than a patch with a name on it, and it is more respectful for exactly that reason.

The rest of the set:

• A gold helmet with the blue Cal script on the side, a gold facemask, and a blue and white center stripe. This is the piece people will react to, because Cal's modern helmets lean navy and this is the opposite call.
• A royal blue jersey, noticeably brighter than the Berkeley navy Cal has used in recent years, with gold and white stripes wrapping the shoulders.
• A small gold block C at the collar, sitting in the V of the neckline.
• Gold pants, and white socks with blue and gold stripes.

via Cal Football

via Cal Football

Why the Blue Is the Right Call

The brighter royal is what makes this work, and it is the detail most people will not consciously notice.

Cal's official blue is a deep navy, and navy against gold is a fine combination that a dozen programs already run. Royal against gold is a different animal. It is warmer, it reads at distance, and it is the actual color of the era being honored, because the dye and fabric of the 1970s never produced the deep saturated navy that modern uniforms do. Going brighter is historically correct and it also just looks better under an afternoon sun in Berkeley.

The gold helmet compounds it. A gold shell with a blue script gives you the two colors at full strength on the piece the camera frames most, and the gold facemask commits instead of hedging with a gray or white cage.

via Cal Football

Our Grade: A

Cal has quietly had some of the best colors in college football for decades and one of the least-discussed uniform programs, mostly because the team has not been good enough often enough for anyone to look. Blue and gold at full saturation is a top-five palette in the sport and this set uses all of it.

It lands at A rather than higher only because the modern jersey cut fights the era slightly, with the shoulder real estate a little tight for the striping to breathe the way a 1976 jersey would have. That is a manufacturing reality, not a design failure, and it is the same tax every throwback in the country pays.

The Bottom Line

Gold helmet, royal blue jersey, gold pants, and a patch that carries a whole story without spelling any of it out. Cal picked the right game to bring it back, because UCLA is the opponent this uniform was built for and the schedule finally cooperated. If you have never paid attention to Cal's wardrobe, start here. Grade: A.

For the rest of this offseason's college reveals, we graded Florida's matte blue helmet and first all-blue set, the Gators' Spurrier throwbacks, Georgia's first white helmet, Vanderbilt's return to old gold, and Tulane's Mardi Gras City Edition. The full picture is in every college football brand switch in 2026, ranked.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Cal's Joe Roth uniforms?

A throwback set honoring Joe Roth, Cal's quarterback in 1975 and 1976. It pairs a gold helmet carrying the blue Cal script with a royal blue jersey, gold pants, and a patch showing a blue block C with the number 12 inside a gold football outline.

When will Cal wear the Joe Roth uniforms in 2026?

In the Week 1 season opener against UCLA.

Who was Joe Roth?

Cal's starting quarterback in 1975 and 1976, who finished ninth in the 1976 Heisman Trophy voting while playing with melanoma. He died in February 1977 at the age of 21.

Why is No. 12 retired at Cal?

No. 12 was Joe Roth's number, and it is the only retired jersey number in the history of Cal football.

Why did Cal stop wearing the Joe Roth uniforms?

Cal traditionally wore them for the home game against UCLA or USC. When UCLA and USC moved to the Big Ten and Cal joined the ACC, those matchups came off the schedule and the uniform went with them. UCLA returning to the 2026 opener brings the tradition back.

What color blue are the Joe Roth uniforms?

A brighter royal blue rather than the deep Berkeley navy Cal has used in recent seasons, which is closer to the actual shade of the 1970s uniforms being honored.

What grade do Cal's Joe Roth uniforms get?

Our grade is A. The gold helmet, the historically correct royal blue, and a memorial patch that carries the story without spelling it out are all excellent. The only thing holding it back is that modern jersey cuts leave the shoulder striping less room than a 1976 jersey had.