RICE

c.mid 1950s - 1964	1965 - 1966	1967 - 1970

1971 - 1975	1976	1977

1978	1979 - 1981	1982

1983	1984	1984
	*see note 1 below

1985	1986 - 1989	1990 - 1993

1994 - 1996	1997 - 2005	2006

2007 -

To the best of my knowledge, these are all of the different helmet designs used by Rice during the period covered by this site (1960 to present).

*1 The decal on this helmet was used for only the first two games of the 1984 season (vs Minnesota and Lamar); the logo was modified for the third game, and that version was used for the remainder of the 1984 season.

SOUTHERN METHODIST

? - 1966	1967	1968 - 1972
*see note 1 below

1973 - 1975	1989 - 1990	1991
	*see note 2 below

1976 - 1986; 1992 - 1996	1997 - 1999	2003

2004 - 2007	2000 - 2002; 2008 -

*1 This design was in use by at least 1963, but I do not have much information yet for SMU from the years 1960-1962, other than that the team may have used white helmets with numerals of some unknown darker color during part of this period.

*2 The football program at SMU was shut down entirely during 1987 and 1988 by the NCAA for rules violations committed by the university, hence the two-year gap prior to this design being used.

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

c.1973 - 1974	1986	1982 - 1987
	*see note 1 below

1988 - 1989	1990 - 2002	2003 -

During at least the period 1962 through 1967, Southern Mississippi wore dark-colored numerals (almost certainly black) on helmet shells that I think were almost certainly gold in color. However, I do not have any color photographs from this era, so I cannot rule out the possibility that the helmets might have been yellow, particularly since the team did use yellow helmets a few years later.

In about 1969, the first helmet logo that I know about for USM appeared; it consisted of a large, dark-colored "S", flanked on either side by a smaller "U" and "M". Again I am unsure about the colors, having only black-and-white photographs to refer to at the present time. An apparent black-white-black set of stripes was added to the helmet by at least 1970, and if the helmet shells were in fact gold earlier, I believe they had been changed to yellow by at least 1971. This logo was used once again during at least the 1975 season.

It appears that black helmets were used for the first time in either 1976 or 1977, with the same logo as was used on the yellow helmet shown above. The logo was depicted in either gold or white, or possibly a combination of those colors. These helmets had a gold-black-gold set of stripes from at least 1977 through 1981.

There certainly may have been some other designs used through the years; the information I have received so far for USM is relatively sketchy.

*1 The numerals "25" were added to each player's helmet for the 1986 season as a tribute to Eric Sorey, a member of the team who died during a preseason practice; 25 was Sorey's uniform number. To be precise, the numerals were worn only on one side of the helmet, the right side rather than the left as shown here.

TEXAS-EL PASO

1964 - 1967	c.early 1960s; c.1967 - 1970	1971

1972	1973	1974 - 1976

1977 - 1979?	1980 - 1981	1982? - 1986?

1987 - ?	? - 1990	1991

1992 - 1998	1999	2000 -

UTEP has several other interesting historical helmet designs for which I have only partial information at the present time; a few of these are shown in the photographs below.

A shows a helmet design used during the mid 1960s. The logo is bizarre: a bearded prospector holding a pickaxe sitting astride a large football which has a pair of wings extending out from either side. I do have a copy of this logo and could add this helmet to the web site if I could get a photograph clear enough to show the colors within the logo, as used on the football helmets. This design was apparently last used in 1967.

B and C are from 1971 and 1972, respectively. The colors of the letters "TEP" on the 1971 helmet are unknown, but they were dark orange on the 1972 helmet. Whether any stripes were present on the 1972 helmet remains unknown; the 1971 helmet apparently did not have any. UTEP was apparently using white helmets in 1970, also, though I do not have any photos showing what logo (if any) was worn on the sides of the helmets. I do not have any photos from the 1973 season, but it has been reported to me that the helmets were white that year, with no decals on the sides, but with an orange-white-orange stripe sequence.

D is from the 1976 season; the 1974 and 1975 helmets were apparently very similar to this design but probably with some slight differences. I do not have any color photographs from these years. The helmets appear to be white, but the colors within the logo are unclear. The letters "UT" on the earlier 1974 helmet appear to be larger, narrower, and lighter in color than those on the 1976 helmet.

E shows the 1979 UTEP helmet. The shell is probably orange. The logo is the team name "MINERS" on a white oval shape, behind which are a pickaxe and a shovel in an "X" shape. Again I do not have any color photographs to reveal the colors within the logo, the facemask color, etc.; nor do I yet have a copy of the helmet logo itself. The facemask appears to be dark in the 1979 photo, but some lighter color (probably gray or orange) in photos from the 1977 season, which show otherwise basically the same helmet design as the 1979 one.

Two later designs are shown below:

F is a photograph from the 1985 season; the helmets used from 1982 through 1985 appear to have been basically the same each year. During the earlier years the white letters spelling "UTEP" appear to be outlined in light blue, but it is unclear whether this was still the case in 1985. The facemasks were white and the stripe sequence was light blue/white/light blue.

G shows the 1991 - 1992 helmet. I could add this one to the web site easily if I could get a copy of the helmet logo.

TULANE

? - 1962	1963	1964

1964	1964	1965

1965	1966 - 1969?	1970

1971	1972 - 1975	1976 - 1980

1981 - 1982	1983 - 1984	1985 - 1988

1992 - 1994	1989 - 1991; 1995 - 1996	1997

2005 (first four games)	1998 -
*see note 1 below

I believe that I have been able to add to this web site a complete set of helmet design representations for Tulane for the period 1966 to present, but there are several other very interesting helmets from the early 1960s for which I do not yet have sufficient information.

The photograph below shows a design used by Tulane during at least part of the 1962 season:

To be precise, this photograph is said to be from the team's spring game in 1962, and a slightly different design may have been in use during the football season. The helmet features a large, breaking wave containing an outline of the state of Louisiana, which in turn contains the player's uniform number. Other photos suggest that the state outline and uniform numerals were absent during the football season, but that the large wave did remain on the helmet. I have very few photos of this one, and none in color, so any good photographs would be appreciated. The helmet shell was apparently white.

I have only a single photograph from 1963, which appears to suggest that Tulane was using light blue helmets with white numerals on the sides.

Tulane definetly used light blue helmets in 1964, with at least three different helmet logos. Below are some photographs from 1964:

The first picture shows the helmet's shell color. A shows a "UT" logo which was apparently white in color; B shows a mysterious logo which apparently consisted of a white football-shape containing the words "GREEN MACHINE" and what may be a set of interlocking "gears"; C shows a logo worn by Tulane's defensive unit, which had adopted as its nickname "The Posse" - the logo apparently represented a hangman's noose.

In 1965 Tulane apparently used silver helmets for the only known time in the team's history. At least two helmet logos were used: an apparently white "T" inside a dark oval-shape (which was presumably either green or blue), and another instance of the "noose" logo, this time in some dark color. There were also several stripes on the helmet in a dark/white/dark/white/dark sequence. Below are photographs of these two:

I would greatly appreciate any large, clear photographs of these pre-1966 Tulane helmets, particularly ones which are clear enough to resolve some of the unknown colors on these designs.

*1 Tulane used "plain" green helmets for four games during the 2005 season: September 17 vs. Mississippi State, September 24 at Southern Methodist, October 1 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, and October 8 vs. Houston. The absence of helmet decals during these games was supposedly attributed to damage to the team's equipment in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. Helmet decals reappeared for the October 14 game against UTEP.

TULSA

c.1960	c.1962 - c.1964	1965

1966 - 1967	1968	1969

1970 - 1972	1973	1975 - 1976

1977 - c.1980	c.1981 - 1984	1985 - 1990

2000 - 2002	September 20, 2008	1991 - 1999; 2003 - September 6, 2008
	*see note 1 below

September 26, 2009; October 3, 2009	November 27, 2009	September 27, 2008 -
*see note 2 below	*see note 3 below

The set of historical helmets for Tulsa depicted at this web site is one of the most incomplete ones for any NCAA Division I - Football Bowl Championship Subdivision team; I would greatly appreciate any information which will help me to add more of these historical helmets to this web site.

The earliest photographs that I have are from 1960; these show Tulsa using what are probably gold helmets with numerals on the sides in some unknown color. In 1965, Tulsa used helmets that were similar to the "c.1962 - c.1964" design shown above, but with the addition of dark-colored (probably blue or red) block numerals added to the sides. Color photographs of the 1960 and 1965 helmets would be appreciated.

Tulsa made almost yearly helmet design changes during the late 1960s and early 1970s; several of these may be seen in the photographs below:

During 1966 and 1967, the team wore white helmets with a very strange logo that included a "TU" logo, a hurricane warning flag, and a human face in profile. I would greatly appreciate a clear color photograph of one of these helmets. (This design may have been used during part of the 1968 season, also).

The 1969 helmet shows the "100" decal that many colleges wore that season; as is usually the case, the colors are unknown.

I do not have any color photographs of the 1970 helmet, but based on its appearance in black-and-white photographs, I believe it was probably yellow in color, rather than gold. The dark stripes and the letters spelling "TULSA" are probably blue, but red is also a possibility, as this is also one of the school colors. This helmet was used through 1972.

The 1973 helmet appears to have a gold shell. The "T" in the logo appears to be yellow or gold or red rather than white, and to say that the oval-shape was blue would be to make an assumption. I do not have any photographs from the 1974 season.

The best photograph that I have of the strange logo on the 1966-1967 Tulsa helmets is the one below, showing the logo on a toy helmet - thanks to Charlie O. for this picture.

*1 This design was used in the home game against New Mexico in 2008, during which Tulsa wore uniforms similar to those used by the 1950s Tulsa teams.

*2 This design was used for two games in 2009: versus Sam Houston State (Sep. 26) and at Rice (Oct. 3).

*3 Worn during the home game against Memphis in 2009.

UAB

1991	1992	1993

1994	1995	1996 - 2002

2003 - 2007	2008 -

The first UAB football team was a club-level squad which played in 1989. The first varsity team played at the NCAA Division III level in 1991, with the program moving to Division I-AA in 1993 and to Division I-A in 1996.

There is one other historical helmet for UAB besides those shown above - in 1992, UAB used helmets that were similar to the 1991 helmet, but a "BLAZERS" logo was added to the helmet. I have been told that the letters were in yellow with both white and yellow outlines around them; below is a photograph of this design. A copy of this helmet decal would enable me to add this one to the web site.

UCF

1979 - 1980	1981 - 1982	1983 - 1984

1985 - 1994	1995	1996 - 2002

2003 - 2006	2007 -

The first Central Florida football team played at the NCAA Division III level in 1979. UCF moved to Division II for the 1982 season, then to Division I-AA in 1990, and to Division I-A in 1996. This is believed to be the complete set of historical helmet designs for this team.