DELAWARE	JAMES MADISON	RICHMOND
"Blue Hens"	"Dukes"	"Spiders"
Newark, DE	Harrisonburg, VA	Richmond, VA

TOWSON	VILLANOVA	WILLIAM & MARY
"Tigers"	"Wildcats"	"Tribe"
Towson, MD	Villanova, PA	Williamsburg, VA

Comments

Towson has a new helmet design in 2009 (shown above), and Hofstra has made a minor change (different facemask color).

As for historical helmets, I particularly need additional information for Hofstra, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Richmond, Towson, and William & Mary.

Historical Helmets

DELAWARE

c.1959 - 1969	1969 - 1976	1977 - 1983

1984 - 2003	2004 -

Delaware began using the "winged" helmet design in 1951, and has used it continuously ever since, with only a few changes to the facemask color and perhaps some slight modifications to the shades of blue and gold having been made during these five decades. The change from a darker blue to a nearly royal blue in 2004 is the most substantial change to the blue color of which I am aware.

Some players were using facemasks as early as 1954, but they were apparently not standard issue until about 1959. The dates of transition between facemask colors listed above are not precise, because at each change, some players continued to use the previously-used color for another year or two, or even longer. The years listed above are the approximate dates when ach new color became predominant.

HOFSTRA

? - 1982	? - 1991	1992? - 2004

2005 - 2007	2008	2009 -

I have partial information for several of Hofstra's other earlier helmet designs, and I could add many of these to the site if I could get some color photographs to clarify some of the following uncertainties about the colors:

During the very early 1960s, the team was using dark-colored helmet shells (probably blue) with light-colored players' uniform numerals on the sides. By 1963, the numerals were reduced in size and moved to the front of the helmets; an "H" replaced the numerals on the sides of the helmets. I would appreciate some color photographs from these years.

By at least some time in 1964, the "H" was replaced with a logo that I cannot identify from the few photographs that I have seen showing it. A single light-colored stripe was also added to the helmet design in 1964.

Photographs from 1965 show Hofstra still using dark-colored helmets shells, but with another new logo - a light-colored "H" inside a dark-colored oval shape, which is in turn surrounded by a light-colored outline. The 1966 design was similar, but the colors within the logo were apparently reversed (the "H" was dark, and the oval shape apparently white).

In 1967 and 1968, Hofstra once again used light-colored players' uniform numerals on the sides of the helmet shells, which were still some dark color. There were several stripes of unknown colors on the helmets during these years.

A new logo was adopted in 1969 - an interlocking "HU" that appears to have probably been yellow or gold in color. A photograph from 1970 shows the team apparently reverting back to the design used in 1966; in 1971, this design was apparently modified by the dropping of the light-colored stripe.

I do not have any information for Hofstra from the year 1972, but in 1973 and 1974, the team was using the unusual helmet logo shown in the photograph here - a lower-case "h" above a "u", both inside a vertical oval-shape of some unknown color.

In 1975, plain blue helmets may have been used, and in 1976 the team once again used the 1966 helmet design, an "H" inside a light-colored oval. I believe that the oval -shape was yellow or gold in color in 1976, but had probably been white during the earlier years when it was in use.

JAMES MADISON

1973 - 1976	1977 - 1981	1982 - 1985

1986 -

These are believed to be all of the helmet designs used by JMU; the team first played in 1973. The school's name was Madison College prior to 1976 (hence the "MC" logo on the earliest helmet).

MAINE

1969	c.1950s - c.1975	c.1976 - 1984
	*see note 1 below

1985 - 1991	1992 - 1999	2000 -

*1 Maine is reported to have used the "wing" helmet design throughout the 1960s and early 1970s; I do not yet know when the switch to the next design was made, but 1976 is a good possibility, as there was a new head coach that year. Some photographs from the last few years when this design was in use show that some players did not have the uniform numerals on their helmets, but I do not think there was ever a time when all Maine helmets lacked the numerals. In 1969, the player's numerals were replaced with a version of the "100" decal that many teams wore that year; Maine's version apparently featured light-colored numerals on a dark-colored football shape with a light-colored outline.

MASSACHUSETTS

1963 - 1968	1970 - 1972	1973

1974 - 1984	1985	? - 1962; 1986

1987	1988	1989 - 1992
		*see note 1 below

1993 - 2002	2003 - 2004	2005 -

The helmets shown above apparently represent a complete set for Massachusetts for the period covered by this web site (1960 to present), with the exception of the design used in 1973, which is visible in the photograph below. The 1973 helmet featured the word "UMass" within an outline of the state of Massachusetts; I need a copy of the helmet decal, or else the artwork printed on it from some other source, in order to add this one to the web site.

*1 This design is identical to the one used in 1988 but for the addition of the word "AMHERST" in small letters below the "UM" logo (the letters are obviously not legible in the image size used here).

NEW HAMPSHIRE

? - c.1966	c.1967 - ?	? - 1999

2000	2001 - 2002	2003 -

I have never received much information about historical helmet designs used by New Hampshire. I believe that the third design shown above (? - 1999) was probably used for many years, perhaps even as early as the 1970s.

NORTHEASTERN

c.1980s	c.mid 1990s	? - 1999

2000 - 2003	2004 -

I do not have any information about earlier helmet designs used by Northeastern, but I believe that the team may have used red helmets at some point, and that there are probably many other historical designs used during the period covered by this web site (1960 to present).

RHODE ISLAND

c.1970s	c.1980s	c.early 1990s

? - 1999	2000 - 2007	2008 -

I suspect that Rhode Island may have used light blue helmets with white uniform numerals on the sides during at least some years in the 1960s. It has also been reported that the team used blue helmets with white "ram horns" during some unspecified years during the 1960s.

RICHMOND

1970 - 1979	c.1982 - 1988	1989 - 1994

1995? - 2002	2003	2004 -

Partial information has been received for some earlier helmet designs used by Richmond:

• c.late 1950s - 1960?: helmets may have been plain red;
• 1961 - 1965: blue helmets with white, block uniform numerals;
• 1966 - 1969: blue helmets with a logo consisting of a small white oval containing the letters "ur", which were blue with red outlines;
• 1970 - 1979: blue helmets with white "UR" logo (described as "New York Giants-style");
• 1980 - 1981?: silver helmets with a "UR" logo similar to that on the "c.1982-1988" helmet shown above, but without the "web" background.

For a brief time during the late 1990s (reported by one person to be for only for a single game, the opening game of the 1998 season against Rutgers), Richmond used a decal bearing the word "RICHMOND" (different from the 2003 decal) in white letters. I have a fairly decent picture of the helmet but I will also need a copy of the decal before I can add a helmet image here.

TOWSON

c.late 1990s	1999 - 2000	2001

2002 - 2003	2004 - 2008	2009 -
		*see note 1 below

I have received less information about historical helmets for Towson than for any other team in this conference; any information about pre-1998 helmets used by this team would be appreciated.

*1 The 2009 Towson helmet design featured two stripes (rather than the usual one, three, or five); a white stripe on the left side of the helmet bordered directly against a yellow stripe on the right side.

VILLANOVA

c.1962	c.late 1960s	1970
		*see note 1 below

1972	1972 (last game)	c.1974

c.1979	1986 - c.1997	c.1998 - 2002

2003 -

*1 The "75" on this helmet commemorated the 75th season of football at Villanova.

WILLIAM & MARY

? - 1985 - ?	? - 1995	1996? - 2000
*see note 1 below	*see note 1 below

2004 - 2007	2008 -

During at least the 1980 season (and I think probably several adjacent seasons), William & Mary used yellow helmets with a logo consisting of the letters "WM" and a pair of feathers. I have all of the necessary information to add this one to the web site, with the exception of the facemask color - the facemasks were probably either yellow or gray.

Two earlier designs may be seen in the photographs below. The first is supposedly from the late 1960s - the logo appears to be a cartoon "Indian face" which may be similar to the Cleveland Indians logo. The colors used within the logo cannot, of course, be determined from this photograph. The other photographs show a design used at an unknown point during the 1970s. I would greatly appreciate better photographs of either of these designs (or any other old W & M helmet used since 1960).

*1 The yellow "Tribe" helmet was in use at least during the 1985 season (and I think earlier); the next helmet shown above was in use by at least 1987. I do not yet know which of these, if either, was in use in 1986.