It makes sense that Western Carolina would like to call your attention to the fact that one of its alumni currently coaches a program that won a BCS conference two years ago. Breaking out new uniforms that resemble those of Paul Johnson's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is one way to do it.
Here are the new Catamounts unis:
And here's the inspiration:
The shoulder stripes are similar, but I wouldn't have even noticed if not for that unique leg stripe, which is meant to evoke a yellow jacket's stinger. A catamount is an Appalachian panther, and things get a little wild out there in hill country, but may the Lord watch over you if you ever encounter a pork shoulder-powered hillcat equipped with a giant stinger.
As you can see here, those colors aren't entirely new for Western Carolina, though they did change out yellow for gold and maybe deepen up that purple a tad, all of which helps further make the connection to Johnson.