Big Ten football: Ranking the 5 most iconic helmets in the conference

1. Michigan

The University of Michigan undeniably boasts the most iconic helmets in college football. No helmet is more traditional or well-known than the Maize and Blue-winged helmet that first saw action in Ann Arbor during the 1938 season.

Though Michigan was not the first program to debut the “winged helmet” design, the Wolverines have worn it the longest. The design has become synonymous with the Michigan football program over the past 100 years of football.

After playing with the generic leather helmets for most of Michigan’s early history, the Wolverines changed to a winged design for the 1938 season — just five seasons after the forward pass was legalized — Michigan football was wearing their present-day helmets. Some design changes have taken place over the years, yet the fierce and straightforward design of the helmet has changed very little.

In the early models of the helmet, the stripes that stemmed from the back of the helmet did not touch the base of the helmet. In the 1960s, the first real change was made to the helmet: numbers. In the early-mid 1960s, numbers were added, removed, moved around, and changed the stripes frequently in length.

Until the late 1960s, Michigan’s three helmet stripes all connected into one large stripe that extended to the helmet’s base. This design — which lasted for nearly a decade — was kept (though frequently changed) until the 1980s. By the time the 80s rolled around, the three stripes were redesigned to all meet at the helmet’s base instead of converging around the middle of the rear portion of the helmet.

In the mid-1970s, the numbers on the sides of the Wolverines’ helmets were moved to the rear, and for the first time since the helmet’s creation, an addition was made to the helmet. This addition was helmet stickers, which were ushered in under the late Bo Schembechler. These stickers were changed in size throughout the years, though they stuck around until former national championship-winning head coach Lloyd Carr discarded the stickers in 1995.

Another subtle change made in the early 1980s was changing the number of locations. What was once located firmly on both sides of the line at the base of Michigan’s helmet was moved to a smaller font and placed on the right side of Michigan’s stripes. The numbers remained there until 2011 when they were added to the sides of the helmets. In 2012 the Wolverines’ moved the numbers back, though they kept them on the side of the helmet during their loss to Alabama to open the season.

During the 2010s, Michigan’s helmets were given a glossy finish to keep up with the times and were changed back to a matte paint in 2016.

The Wolverines’ current helmets under head coach Jim Harbaugh feature a matte finish with a more prominent tip to the wings. The helmets also feature customized helmet stickers brought back under Harbaugh in 2015. These stickers are handed out with unique player area codes, each program win the player was a part of, and many more.

Additionally, Michigan’s iconic block ‘M’ logo was added to the nameplate of the helmets in 2014, though they were changed from blue to yellow in 2016. The last subtle change to the helmets was made in 2012, as the small numbers on the backs of the helmets were moved from the right side of the stripes to the left.