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Wyoming Lays Claim To United States Coal Industry Over West Virginia With New Blackout Uniforms

 


 

October 17, 2025 - Wyoming will not wear its traditional home uniform during its college football game against Air Force on Saturday. The Cowboys will instead pay homage to the state’s deep-rooted ties to the coal industry. 

This has sparked quite the debate. 

Both West Virginia and Wyoming wear alternate college football uniforms to honor the hard-working miners in their respective states. But who really owns the coal industry in 2025? 

Wyoming will not wear its school colors for the first time ever.

As far as I am aware, this will be the first time in school history that the University of Wyoming football program wears a new uniform that does not include brown, gold or brown and gold. Every alternate kit has, at the very least, featured a smattering of the school colors on the shoulders or in the lettering. 

Not this week!  

The Cowboys are wearing all black from head to toe. The numbers and lettering are silver. 

It is an homage to the coal industry in partnership with the Wyoming Mining Association. 

West Virginia fans are furious. Their football team wore a ‘Coal Rush’ uniform in 2024 that looks more or less the same. Adidas went in a slightly different direction than Nike — mostly with the on-jersey fonts — but the general concept is similar. There is not much else you can do with the color black!

The Mountaineers are also upset with this attempt to claim the coal industry. They think it is stolen valor. 

Who owns the coal industry?

Before we go any further down this path, it must first be stated that both Wyoming and West Virginia play an equally as important role in coal! We must appreciate them both equally. 

Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Montana also deserves shoutouts. However, it is Wyoming and West Virginia that carry the majority of the load. 

And it is actually the former who out-produces the latter. I was not previously aware of this reality! I am sure I am not the only one. 

The state of Wyoming accounts for roughly 41% of total coal production in the United States, with somewhere around 240,000 thousand short tons per year. The state of West Virginia is second with approximately 85,000 thousand short tons per year. Pennsylvania sits third at 43,000. 

There is a distinct difference between these two primary states.