Colonial Athletic Association

Colonial Athletic Association


DELAWARE	GEORGIA STATE	JAMES MADISON
"Blue Hens"	"Panthers"	"Dukes"
Newark, DE	Atlanta, GA	Harrisonburg, VA


MAINE	NEW HAMPSHIRE	OLD DOMINION
"Black Bears"	"Wildcats"	"Monarchs"
Orono, ME	Durham, NH	Norfolk, VA


RHODE ISLAND	RICHMOND	TOWSON
"Rams"	"Spiders"	"Tigers"
Kingston, RI	Richmond, VA	Towson, MD


VILLANOVA	WILLIAM & MARY
"Wildcats"	"Tribe"
Villanova, PA	Williamsburg, VA

Comments

Georgia State will be a new member of the CAA in 2012, replacing Massachusetts, which has moved to the Mid-American Conference.

Rhode Island and Old Dominion were both using new helmet designs in 2011 (shown above).

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 each new color became predominant.

GEORGIA STATE


2010 -

2010 was the first year of varsity football for the GSU team.

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.

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.

OLD DOMINION


2009 - September 3, 2011	September 1, 2012	September 10, 2011 -
	*see note 1 below	*see note 2 below

2009 was the first year for this team.

*1 Worn during the first game of the 2012 season (vs Duquesne).

*2 Stripes were added to ODU's helmets for the team's second game of the 2011 season (at Georgia State); the stripes were not present during the team's previous game a week earlier (vs Campbell).

RHODE ISLAND


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


? - 1999	2000 - 2007	2008 - 2010


2011 -

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


1960?	1961? - 1965?	1966? - 1969?


1969?	1970 - ?	? - 1979?


1980? - 1981?	1982? - 1988	1989 - 1994


September 5, 1998	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 reportedly blue with red outlines;

1969: a version of the "100" college football centennial logo was worn during at least one game on at least the left side of the helmet;

? - 1979: blue helmets with a white "UR" logo different from the one used earlier during the 1970s;

1980 - 1981?: silver helmets with a "UR" logo similar to that on the "c.1982-1988" helmet shown above, but without the "web" background.

I could probably add the 1960s designs to this web site if I could obtain some color photographs of them (to establish the shade of blue of the various helmet shells). Below are photographs of some of these designs:

The "1989-1994" helmet design shown above apparently had a different stripe sequence during some years; the photograph below appears to indicate an asymmentrical stripe sequence was present in 1990 - there was apparently a blue stripe adjacent to a red stripe. I would appreciate a clear color photograph showing the stripe sequence on this one.

For a brief time during the late 1990s (reported by one person to be for only for a single game, September 5, 1998 vs Rutgers), Richmond used a decal bearing the word "RICHMOND" (different from the 2003 decal) in white letters; I would appreciate a photograph from this game.

TOWSON


c.late 1990s	1999 - 2000	2001


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


October 8, 2011	2010 -
*see note 2 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.

*2 Worn during the 2011 home game against Richmond.

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


? - 1963	1964 - 1968	1969 only?


1970 - ?	c.1976 - 1977	? - 1980


1981? - 1985	1986 - 1994	1995 - 2000
*see note 1 below


2001? - 2007	2008 -
*see note 2 below

During at least part of the 1969 season, William and Mary used what were apparently yellow helmets with a logo that appears to be nearly identical to the one used by the Cleveland Indians baseball team. The colors as used within the logo cannot be determined with the photographs that I presently have. During at least the Tangerine Bowl game at the end of the 1970 season, and probably for several years during the 1970s, the team used yellow helmets with a logo depicting the letters "WM" in some dark color (probably green but perhaps black). Both of these designs featured dark/white/dark stripes; below are some photos of these two:

*1 The facemask color on this design may have been changed to white during the latter part of its period of use.

*2 I have received conflicting information as to whether or not a white outline was present around the letters "W&M" during the first few years of use for this design; I would greatly appreciate any VERY CLEAR photographs from 2001 through 2003.