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Iconic Mean Green

A few years ago some website ran a list (imagine that!) of the best looking college football helmets. Not nearly as unique or rare then as it is now –head over to Bleacher Report and have a gander — I was interested. I was glad to see that the Longhorn’s all-white-logo-only lid was the top. That helmet is really kind of awesome in it’s boldness. The longhorn sits in it’s sea of white, confident that you both know who and what he represents.

Some would call it iconic.

Then maybe those people look at their own organization, their company, school, or pro sports team. They want the same iconic image. They want that. They’ll then rattle off other schools, often with similar simplistic designs and say it was the simplicity that made them iconic in the first place.

North Texas fans have been no exception. Lost in the desire for equal brand recognition is that those classic looks — Nebraska, Oklahoma, USC, Texas, Alabama, Notre Dame — were earned through success and time. Those squads would likely not settle for plain golden domes or ordinary letters on their helmets.

North Texas has history. Mediocre history 1.We have a hard time getting people to say the correct name. Now we have a new (awesome) stadium, a real honest-to-goodness college football coach. With this much good stuff in front of the program there is a worry about how we will define the look of the New Era. important. “We must make an impression when the nation sees us on TV.

There is something to be said for looking good. College football has very few practical reasons to innovate helmet stylings 2. We do need the players to think they look good, like Oregon does — damn what the stodgy people say. We also need to have something that the fans can wear — damn what the players think.

The current leadership values a name-tag-like approach. “Hi, my name is North Texas.” They say it is important to let the people know who we are. Me? I prefer the legacy-establishing and impossibly awesome Diving Eagle. I say it is important to be awesome.

Neither is more correct. The icon status of the new uniform won’t be determined by its design solely elements but by its association with the corresponding performance.


  1. This isn’t a knock but merely fact 
  2. There are those new concussion helmets with the weird shapes. I was mostly referring to the fact that the NFL’s Rams and college’s Michigan had painted on color to see the receiver better. 

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