How Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy ceremony suit came to be, from the man who made it

It was some time in November when Nathan Pearce got a text from Regina Jackson, mother of now-Heisman winner Jayden Daniels. The upcoming award ceremony was on her mind.

Pearce, who has outfitted a number of LSU football players — Daniels included — with suits via an NIL-driven sponsorship program, recalled that Jackson wanted to be ready for the Heisman ceremony, just in case.

“His mom reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, Heisman is coming up. Fingers crossed that we’re there but we gotta plan and just in case he is there, would love for you to be the guy to make the suit for us,’” Pearce said, recalling the interaction to On3. “And I said, ‘OK, we’re not just gonna make the suit, I wanna make everything. I’m gonna throw in an overcoat. You’re gonna be in New York City, I wanna dial him in on some outerwear to go with the suit.’ So yeah, we dressed him head to toe.”

Pearce is the CEO and founder of Pearce Bespoke, which offers bespoke tailored suits and other clothing with the convenience of being mobile. It’s built around the idea of bringing the tailor and clothier to the clients, who are often too busy to get away from work for a fitting. This resulted in Pearce, who is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, working with an LSU football coach. From that relationship, Pearce began to make suits for LSU football players, using NIL to help cover the costs.

The model is simple: Local businesses or boosters can effectively sponsor the cost of a suit or garments for a player. Players get a suit to wear on gameday and for other occasions, and Pearce Bespoke then has some of the most high-profile athletes in the state (and country) wearing its works.

Pearce considers it “one of the most innovative NIL programs in the country.”

It was inevitable to some regard, then, that Pearce wound up working with Daniels. When it came time for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, Pearce was the natural pick for Daniels and his parents to get outfitted.

But Pearce wasn’t calling many shots when it came to style by that point. Daniels was in command of what he wanted the look to be, and Pearce already had the fit for the quarterback dialed in from previous work. Daniels and Pearce also enjoy a similar taste in suits, with a penchant for some old-school staples: Wide, pointed lapels, cuffed pants and the like.

As far as Pearce was concerned, it was mostly a matter of executing a client’s idea, though he is willing to take credit for one notable element of the suit: The lining of Daniels’ jacket showing him striking the Heisman pose during a game this season.

“And I always tell my clients, if we’re gonna build custom, let’s do it so that people know it’s custom. Let’s build something you can’t find off the rack. And those little two details, taking this old school concept and making it in a very modern fit for an athlete was something that he liked and he picked just about everything else,” Pearce said. “And I said, ‘Dude, I think it would be the coolest thing ever to take that image from you striking the Heisman pose at the Florida game.’ And that was his Heisman moment. I think that that’s kind of what really stood out. And when I brought it up to him, he just lit up.”

LSU held a 3-point lead over Florida with less than 10 minutes to play in Tiger Stadium when Daniels hit wideout Brian Thomas Jr. in the back of the end zone for a 37-yard score. As he came off the field, he went to celebrate with backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, at which point Daniels struck the Heisman pose.

That image, in black and white, was tessellated across the lining of his suit jacket for Saturday night.

“And I think it was, it was a subtle flex towards the haters throughout his career, throughout his life, even. And it was one of those things where he kind of manifested winning the Heisman,” Pearce said.

Daniels, of course, won the most prestigious honor in college football on Saturday night, beating out Michael Penix Jr. in a very close race.

That meant doing something that takes a different kind of confidence and steadiness than standing in the pocket: Giving a speech on national TV. Pearce won’t be taking credit for that, but he knows he got to play some role in Daniels feeling good as he took the podium and spoke for around five minutes.

And for Pearce, that’s the most rewarding part of it all.

“The only thing better than putting on a perfectly tailored suit is being the guy that made the perfectly tailored suit. And it’s because we get to see people’s reaction for the first time when they try their clothes on. And we truly believe we build confidence for people and what better moment, the biggest moment of his career, to be confident up on stage. So yeah, it was an honor to be a part of that moment,” Pearce said.