Furious Fashion: NCAA Coaches Dress for Success

March 30, 2008— -- While Louisville coach Rick Pitino can't predict the outcome of his team's March Madness match-ups, he has found a way to indirectly influence the games.

"It comes down to the old cliche 'dress for success'," he says of his choice to wear a suit courtside. "It won't alter the outcome of the game but it does create an image of a significant business, and it teaches the players how to create the look of success for themselves."

He's not alone. U.T. Coach Rick Barnes sports dark blue and gray Canali suits and U.N.C. coach Roy Williams favors Hickey Freeman suits with pocket squares or ties in Carolina light blue. Memphis Coach John Calipari wore a blue Zegna tie to the Conference U.S.A. game against Tulane last week.

Click here to learn more about the best-dressed NCAA coaches at our partner site, Forbes.com.

Dressing up "gives them more authority," says Memphis-based Oak Hall owner Bob Levy, who helps dress Calipari. "If they are too casual, they don't command the same kind of respect from the players."

Not all sports embrace the tradition that started in the 1930s. The National Football League insists coaches leave their designer suits and ties in the locker room in favor of marketing the N.F.L.-brand sweaters and jackets while on the field. Out on the diamond, managers and coaches wear team uniforms because they are often running out to the pitching mound, and first and third base coaches remain there through all innings.

Basketball coaches, on the other hand, have maintained the custom, and professional players especially are following their cue.

That's primarily due to a 2005 dress code enforced by N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern. The push followed adverse press related to sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant in 2003 and a November 2004 brawl between Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons fans. Collared dress shirts or turtlenecks, dress slacks and shoes with socks (no sneakers or flip-flops) became the new uniform for all team or league functions. Knicks players were even asked to wear suits to and from all games.