 The new uniforms, which had already been purchased by the Emerald Knights at the time of the merger, were black pants and shoes with flimsy white double-breasted 40's gangster coats with a fake sky-blue carnation in the left breast pocket, black turtlenecks, and a flimsy white fedora- something like a generic gangster Halloween costume.Second, The drumline was mostly from North Texas State University and was clearly the strongest part of the corps- thanks to Daugherty's association with John Wooten, who was to be program coordinator in the beginning, and Eric Johnson, the drum caption head that year.Drum line would continue to be based in the south throughout the Nite Express years.