Southland Conference

CENTRAL ARKANSAS LAMAR McNEESE STATE
"Bears" "Cardinals" "Cowboys"
Conway, AR Beaumont, TX Lake Charles, LA
NICHOLLS STATE NORTHWESTERN STATE SAM HOUSTON STATE
"Colonels" "Demons" "Bearkats"
Thibodaux, LA Natchitoches, LA Huntsville, TX
SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA		 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
"Lions" "Lumberjacks"
Hammond, LA Nacogdoches, TX

Comments

Southeastern Louisiana is using a new helmet design in 2012 (shown above).

Historical Helmets

CENTRAL ARKANSAS

? - 2002 2003? - 2009 2010 -

The helmet design used by UCA immediately prior to the adoption of the current design featured a white shell with the letters "UCA" in purple, arranged diagonally - I would appreciate a clear photograph of this helmet design, which may have been used for many years by the team.

Despite the fact that UCA has had a football team for more than a century I have not received any information about earlier helmet designs used by the team.

LAMAR

1973 - 1974 1975 - 1976 1977 - 1978
1979 - 1980 1981 - 1982 1984
1985 1986 - 1989 2010 -

Lamar did not have a football team from 1990 through 2009. I have received descriptions of some of the team's earlier helmet designs not yet depicted here:

Prior to 1971 the school was named Lamar State College of Technology. During at least the 1969 season the Lamar Tech team was apparently using a "cardinal head" helmet logo similar to the one used a decade later:

MCNEESE STATE

c.1970s 1987 - 1989 1990 - 2000
*see note 1 below
2001 2002 -

*1 At least one or two other helmet designs slightly different from this one were used during various years from the early 1970s through 1986. A single blue stripe was apparently used with this design at some point, and a white outline was present around the horse/rider logo for an unknown period. A white-blue-white sequence of stripes was also present during some of these years. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can clarify when these various changes were made.

NICHOLLS STATE

c.1973 1980 - 1998 1999 - 2004
2005 -

This team has a relatively short history (1972 to present) so a complete helmet history could probably be determined fairly easily by someone at the university with access to old yearbooks, media guides, etc. The team apparently used red helmets during its first several years. The 1979 helmet is visible in the photograph below; it apparently had a red shell with a white or gray "N", and this photograph appears to show two different facemask colors in use (#74's facemask looks darker than the others). Additional information would be appreciated.

NORTHWESTERN STATE

c.1979 ? - 1998? c.1987; 1999?
2000? - 2001 October 19, 2002 2002; 2007
*see note 1 below
2003 - 2006; 2008 -

This team apparently had some very interesting helmet designs during the 1960s, but I have received very little information about them. Below is a photograph from the 1963 season of what I believe is a Northwestern State helmet with a "pitchfork" at the front of the helmet:

Below is a photograph from 1968 showing another apparent Northwestern State helmet with a "demon face" logo. I am unsure about the helmet color, though its appearance in this photograph is more consistent with silver or gold than with the team's current colors of purple and orange.

I would greatly appreciate color photographs of these or other old Northwestern State helmets.

*1 An orange stripe was added to NSU's helmet for a single game in 2002 against Southwestern Oklahoma State.

SAM HOUSTON STATE

1976 1975; 1977 1979
1978; 1980 1981 1982 - 1985
*see note 1 below *see note 2 below
1986 - 1988 1989 - 1993 1994 - 1996
1997 (first 2 games) 1997 (last 9 games) 1998? - 2004
2005 (first game or two); 2010 2005 - 2009; 2011 -

I have not received any information about pre-1975 SHSU helmets. In 1979 the team used white helmets with a "bearkat head" logo (photo below); I would appreciate a clear color photograph of this helmet. It was reported to me that not enough of these decals were ordered, and that towards the end of the season about half the team were using "blank" helmets.

I received some contradictory reports about the decals used by SHSU in 2010; apparently both the orange and white versions of the most recent helmet decal were used in 2010, occasionally at the same time by different players. Can anyone clarify how these were used in 2010? Did one version eventually supersede the other? The white version was apparently used by the entire team during the 2011 season.

*1 The logo shown on this design was actually worn only on the right sides of the helmets; the left sides were "blank".

*2 The 1982-1985 design has been described as being identical to the one shown as "1986-1988" with the exception that there was a blue stripe between the orange and white stripes on each side (in other words the stripe sequence was white-blue-orange-blue-white). I would appreciate a photograph from the 1982-1985 period which clearly shows the width of the blue stripe relative to the others.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA

1959 - 1964 1965 - 1971 1972 - 1978
1979 1980 1981
1982 - 1985 2005 2003 - 2004; 2006 - 2011
*see note 1 below
2012 -

The SLU football team was discontinued following the 1985 season but was resurrected in 2003. The set of helmet designs shown above are believed to be complete for the period covered by this site (1960 to present) with the exception of the 1981 design - I do not yet have any information for that year.

*1 A black stripe was added to the helmet in 2005 as a tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

? - 1976 1982 - 1985 1986 - 1988
1989 - 1991 2002 1992 - 2001; 2003 - 2010
2011 -

From 1977 through 1981, Stephen F. Austin used a logo consisting of the letters "SFA" arranged diagonally above an axe; the axe head contained the word "JACKS". Both the letters and the axe were apparently depicted in a combination of purple, white, and black. I would appreciate a copy of the logo for this design, as well as some photographs clear enough to show the colors of the various logo parts.

I have not received any information about pre-1976 helmet designs for this team.