Countdown to Kickoff (94): Will BYU wear an alternate helmet in 2019?

The football season might seem in the distance but here at Vanquish the Foe we’re counting down the days until the first game against the Utes. To help ease out way unto the season we’re going to spend every day exploring a specific question pertaining to BYU Football. Some of the questions will focus on important topics (offensive play calling) and others will explore the subjects of a rather...inconsequential nature. Today we’re going to talk about football helmets.

The question posed for today’s post would have been nonsensical if it were asked twenty years ago. The thought of a football team wearing different helmets for certain games probably didn’t cross anyone’s mind and now here we are, with nearly every college football team sporting multiple helmet styles throughout the year.

In BYU’s case, there are currently three different helmet options, all of which use the same basic design template. The while helmet, with navy or royal marks (depending on which jersey set used) is the primary helmet, with the black option being their only real alternate. It makes sense for BYU to stick with their currently lineup of lids, but there are some who want to see the Cougars throw in an alternate style, with a few examples displayed in the tweet below.

Would BYU go off book and roll with an alternate style this year?

There haven’t been any announcements indicating what the Cougars will be wearing this season but we would be VERY surprised if they wore something other than what they already have. BYU hasn’t worn their blackout uniforms since 2016 so there is a chance that they’ll bring those out for another spin.

The only indication of uniform changes or updates came by way of Mitch Harper who tweeted out that BYU would fully commit to royal blue in 2018 and that a gray alternate would be on the way, Those reports were quickly rebuffed by BYU’s associate AD Duff Tittle, and as we saw the Cougars continued to use navy last year. Is there a chance that gray alternates were in the works but had to be pushed back a year? Anything is possible but there hasn’t been any mention of it since last April.

Even if BYU doesn’t break out a new helmet this year, should they at least look into it? Based on what has been suggested / presented on Twitter, there aren’t as many great alternative options for BYU. Here are a few thoughts on what people have discussed...

• Blue Helmet - A lot of BYU fans have been suggesting that they opt for the inverse of their current look and have a royal blue base with white marks. Depending on the uniform that this is paired with, the blue helmet doesn’t provide as much balance to the full uniform as the traditional white lid. There is a reason why BYU abandoned the blue helmets back in 2005 and it wasn’t just for sake of tradition. Also, they inverse stretch Y in the oval doesn’t look as good when its a blue Y in a white oval.
• Sailor Cougar - The alt logo which has been re-introduced to Cougar fans recently is a great look but is quite decisive. While some would love to see an alternative helmet with the sailor coug on the side, others would be up in arms. A lot of other teams like Missouri and Minnesota have adopted similar looks. If they kept the same white helmet base this could be an simple change by swapping out the oval Y.
• Chrome Helmet - If BYU were to sport a chrome helmet back in 2012 it would have been cool and ahead of the trend. With a large number of college teams having adopted the look, it kind of loses it’s luster. It would also look strange when paired with BYU’s traditional uniform set. Chrome works for teams like Oregon who have modern uniform designs. Can you imagine what an Alabama or Texas helmet would look like in chrome? Yikes.