New year, new uniforms for the National Football Foundation All-Star Classic
Jerseys for the 2026 NFF All-Star Classic will be based on the uniforms of USC and Notre Dame. Credit: Pete Blieberg
The National Football Foundation All-Star Classic has a new look this year.
The top seniors from Long Island and New York City will be in college uniforms again, but this time representing a different rivalry: Notre Dame vs. USC.
Last year, the game featured a Michigan vs. Ohio State jersey theme. Team Long Island wore silver and red, but this year the seniors from Long Island will wear the iconic gold helmets representing the Fighting Irish.
“The rivalry concept is awesome. It adds a lot of juice,” Sayville coach Rob Hoss said. “Notre Dame is a huge brand. It was really exciting to see the Notre Dame gold helmets when we walked into the locker room. Even for me, I had a quarterback who played for Notre Dame, but to see it in person is really cool.”
The game was played at 1 p.m. on a Saturday last year. When this game was known as the empire challenge, it was always at night.
For this year's event, it has been moved back to 7 p.m. under the lights at Hofstra University on June 17. All proceeds from the game will go to the National Football Foundation’s New York City and Long Island chapters in support of youth football and scholar-athletes.
Hoss led Sayville to a 12-0 season and a Long Island Class III championship in the fall. He has been the head coach of this all-star game multiple times, but notices a difference among his players compared to previous years.
“With social media now, everyone knows everyone,” Hoss said. “I think that’s very different from my previous times doing this. These kids know each other more now with content being put out and everybody seeing posts. Our offensive line especially is a really tight group and is a real strength of this team.”
On the flip side, New York City coach Rocco Del Priore will have his first opportunity to lead the city’s seniors. He led Monsignor Farrell to an appearance in the CHSFL AAA championship game this past fall.
“I’m excited. I followed this game closely as a player in the 2000s” Del Priore said. “I’ve always respected Long Island football, the Catholics obviously, and what I know about the public schools.”
“The kids have been great. They’ve set the tone with the work ethic, energy and momentum around practices, and they’ve shown everything I could’ve hoped for so far.”
