From SWOSU Sports Info.
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – A traditional look will return to the SWOSU Football team in 2014 as they don white helmets this fall for the first time since 2005. Head Coach Dan Cocannouer recently unveiled the first prototype, which will be the only change in the Bulldogs uniforms this season.
“I’ve been thinking about ways to help our program out each year and one of the biggest pieces of feedback I get from our former players is, ‘When are you going to go back to white helmets?’,” Cocannouer said. “’I’ve thought about it quite a bit, because I like the blue helmets, they’re very sharp, but I’m ready to get back to tradition.”
SWOSU has worn several variations of the white helmet through the years, with different Bulldog logos along with the popular ‘SW’ logo that was on the side of the lids from 1988-2003. It was also the helmet worn by SWOSU during the programs only National Championship in 1996. That helmet design was replaced by a white helmet with the new ‘SWOSU’ logo in 2004 before the change to blue occurred in 2005.
“When you look at our history, all but one conference championship was won by the team while they were wearing white helmets,” Cocannouer mentioned. “We’ve come a long way since we’ve been here and I feel like it’s time for our kids to start expecting to win. We’re at the point with our program where we feel like we should expect to win and these white helmets are going to keep us in mind of that.”
Cocannouer decided in the spring that it was time to make the change and sent all of the Bulldogs helmets in to be painted white. New decals were also ordered for the helmets, although the logo on the side of the helmet will be the same one worn by the Bulldogs the past nine seasons. The first helmet complete with the new decal is proudly on display in Cocannouer’s office.
“When people walk into our football complex and look at the All-American guys on the wall, most of them have the white helmets sitting in front of them,” Cocannouer said. “So when our helmet guy was here in the spring we just said ‘Let’s do it,’ and the guys that have seen it so far, they are all excited about it. They look sharp!”
Cocannouer led the Bulldogs to their first winning season since 2007 last year, finishing 6-5 and tying for fourth in the Great American Conference with a 6-4 conference mark. SWOSU opens the 2014 season in Searcy, Ark., on September 6th taking on a Harding team that finished 9-2 last season. SWOSU defeated Harding 27-23 last year in the Fast Lane Kickoff Classic in Weatherford.