The American is here and Soar the patriotic mascot is leading the charge

The American Athletic Conference is no more.

Well… sort of. The league isn’t going anywhere, but it’s got a fresh name, a bold new identity, and in perhaps the most unexpectedly hilarious twist, a mascot.

I’m not joking. A college football conference now has a mascot. Meet Soar, a patriotic bird that looks like he just finished singing the national anthem on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.

The American is new name of American Athletic Conference.

Name change: American Conference is new name of American Athletic Conference. No more AAC. Just the American. And here’s “Soar,” the American’s “brand ambassador” mascot pic.twitter.com/HM8S5IX5qD

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2025

The AAC acronym is officially dead. Long live the American Conference or simply The American which rolled out the full rebrand on Monday with a new logo, the motto “Built to Rise,” and our star-spangled mascot friend flapping around.

According to commissioner Tom Pernetti, the rebrand came after a year of listening, reflecting, and realizing what the league wants to represent: grit, service, strength, and institutions committed to both academics and athletics.

Sounds good to me, Mr. Pernetti. I’m going to have to take your word for it because here in Philly, the only American team we get to watch is Temple Football and let me tell you, they are an absolute mess.

Hopefully Soar will inspire the boys to play for their country rather than a small piece of NIL money. Speaking of the mascot, I texted a pic of that beauty over to my brother, who’s a Temple grad and somehow, actually roots for Owls football.

The response was expected.

The fans love Soar. He’s red, white, and blue and probably got opinions that he’s dying to share at the next tailgate that involve foreign policy and making The American great again. He’s the first-ever conference mascot in college athletics and honestly, it’s kind of genius. Weird? Sure. But genius none-the-less.

SOAR. BUILT TO RISE. THE AMERICAN

If you’re going to plant your flag as a proudly American conference, what better way than to roll out a bald eagle mascot named Soar and slap “Built to Rise” on every surface imaginable? This is peak “football guy” energy in branding form.

You will respect The American. You will respect Soar. Built to Rise!

• Army 
• Tulane
• Memphis
• Navy
• East Carolina
• South Florida
• UTSA
• Charlotte
• North Texas
• Rice
• Temple
• UAB
• Florida Atlantic 
• Tulsa 

Say what you want about the gimmicks, but the conference has earned some credibility.

After finishing last season with three 10-win football teams, one of only five conferences in the country to do that, while dealing with realignment chaos has shredded tradition across college sports, The American really never had a choice but to try something new.

At the very least, they have some America-first schools like Army and Navy in the conference, along with a bunch of southern programs. Then there’s Temple with their owl mascot, Swoop at The Linc for home games, and now Soar. Having three bird mascots shouldn’t be overlooked, obviously.

Don’t be shocked when other conferences start copying this. If the SEC introduces a snarling elephant in 2026 or the Big Ten drops a lumberjack mascot named Paul Bunyan just remember that The American did it first.

Ah, and in case you’re wondering yes, we absolutely need Soar doing cannonballs into end zones and riding a Harley across midfield before the conference title game with an insane amount of fireworks going off around the arena.

God bless The American. God bless Soar, and God bless The United States of America.

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