Before we get started, let’s be clear: uniform talk is serious business. There’s a reason why uniform predictions are a weekly ritual and why fans meticulously analyze what the team might wear. We’re fans, and looking good on the field matters. Baylor, especially under Art Briles, understood this, evident in the incredible array of helmets and jersey combinations unveiled during his tenure.
This article will explore the evolution of Baylor Bears Football Uniforms under Nike’s guidance during the Art Briles era. We’ll examine the various uniform options, offering some insights along the way. Then, we’ll delve into how the team performed in different helmet and uniform combinations. Finally, we’ll consider some questions about the future of Baylor’s on-field look.
Pre-Briles Era
Under Coach Guy Morriss, Baylor’s football uniform setup was straightforward: a green home uniform and a white road uniform. The helmet options included a Vegas gold shell with a single green stripe and a green BU logo, and a shiny green helmet with a white BU. Gold, green, and white pants completed the ensemble. Here’s a glimpse:
Baylor Bears football uniform during Guy Morriss era, gold helmet with green stripe
Baylor Bears shiny green helmet with white BU logo during Guy Morriss era
Regardless of the uniform, wins were scarce. That sums up the pre-Briles uniform story.
2008: The Dawn of Change
Art Briles’ arrival in Waco in 2008 marked a significant shift in the Baylor Bears football uniform landscape. The shiny green helmets and the Vegas gold helmet with a single green stripe of the Morriss era were retired. Instead, for his inaugural season, Briles reintroduced a modified version of the gold helmet from Baylor’s historically successful period of 1972-1992. While the original helmet featured a thick green stripe bordered by thinner white stripes, the new iteration reversed the colors and made the stripes more evenly sized. This gold helmet remains a staple today, being the most frequently used helmet during the Art Briles era, appearing in 45 out of 77 games. Its consistent use throughout the 2008 season significantly contributes to this number.
Baylor Bears gold helmet 2008, modified from 1972-1992 design
via grfx.cstv.com
The jerseys and pants from 2008 were carried over from the Morriss era: solid green or white jerseys with the BU logo on the sleeve, and gold, green, or white pants. However, with the green helmets gone, green pants were not worn during the 2008 season.
In his first season, Coach Briles favored the gold-green-gold combination for 5 of 7 home games, and gold-green-white for the other two. On the road, the team sported gold-white-gold three times and gold-white-white twice.
Baylor Bears football uniform 2008, gold helmet, green jersey, white pants
via grfx.cstv.com
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest | Gold | Green | White | L |
| Northwestern State | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| Washington State | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Connecticut | Gold | White | Gold | L |
| Oklahoma | Gold | Green | Gold | L |
| Iowa State | Gold | Green | White | W |
| @Oklahoma State | Gold | White | White | L |
| @Nebraska | Gold | White | Gold | L |
| Missouri (HC) | Gold | Green | Gold | L |
| @Texas | Gold | White | Gold | L |
| Texas A&M | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Texas Tech | Gold | White | White | L |
2009-2010: Modernization and New Helmets
The biennial uniform refresh from Nike brought new looks for the 2009 season, coinciding with the highly anticipated sophomore year of Robert Griffin III, and a new helmet. This new white helmet featured two green stripes and a green BU logo without an outline. The Bears wore this helmet until the 2012 season. According to a detailed review of Baylor helmets, this marked the first time Baylor sported white helmets since the Bill Beall era, a period not remembered fondly in Baylor football history. This historical context fueled whispers among Baylor fans that white helmets were “cursed.” The team’s 1-3 record in these helmets that year, albeit with true freshman Nick Florence at quarterback for two of those games, may have added to the superstition.
Nike also introduced a modern aesthetic to Baylor football jerseys and pants. “BAYLOR” was prominently displayed across the front of both the green home and white road jerseys. Thin lines ran along the jersey sides. Numbers and lettering on both jerseys were outlined in black. The white road jerseys also incorporated Vegas gold accents. White, gold, and green pants were available, each featuring a stripe that widened as it descended the leg.
Baylor Bears white helmet 2009-2012, with green stripes and green BU logo
via grfx.cstv.com
Notably, the 2009 team wore a gold-gold-gold combination at home against Oklahoma State. Due to its, let’s say, visually challenging nature, we won’t include an image here, but it’s easily searchable.
The uniforms remained consistent for the 2010 season, which culminated in Baylor’s first bowl appearance in fifteen years. Across fourteen home games (twelve in Waco, one in Dallas, and one in Houston), the team used gold-green-gold and white-green-white five times each, gold-green-white twice, and gold-gold-gold and gold-green-green once each. This season marked the last time the gold-green-white combination, a historical Baylor home staple, was part of the regular uniform rotation.
While the “stormtrooper” all-white combination was available, the team predominantly wore a gold-white-gold set for road games.
Baylor Bears football uniform 2010, white helmet, white jersey, white pants
via grfx.cstv.com
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| @Wake Forest | White | White | White | W |
| Connecticut | White | Green | White | L |
| Northwestern State | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| Kent State | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Oklahoma | Gold | White | Gold | L |
| @Iowa State | Gold | White | White | L |
| Oklahoma State (HC) | Gold | Gold | Gold | L |
| Nebraska | White | Green | White | L |
| @Missouri | Gold | White | White | W |
| Texas | Gold | Green | Gold | L |
| @Texas A&M | White | White | White | L |
| Texas Tech | Gold | Green | White | L |
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Houston State | Gold | Green | Green | W |
| Buffalo | White | Green | White | W |
| @Texas Christian | White | White | Green | L |
| @Rice | Gold | White | Gold | W |
| Kansas | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Texas Tech | White | White | White | L |
| @Colorado | Gold | White | Gold | W |
| Kansas State (HC) | Gold | Green | White | W |
| @Texas | Gold | White | White | W |
| @Oklahoma state | Gold | White | Green | L |
| Texas A&M | White | Green | White | L |
| Oklahoma | Gold | Green | Gold | L |
| Illinois | Gold | Green | White | L |
2011: A Touch of Tradition, A Dash of Modern
For the 2011 redesign, Nike toned down some of the modern elements from the previous jerseys. The black number outlines and side stripes were removed. The home green jersey adopted a more subdued shade of green, and numbers and logos were now outlined in gold. A notable addition was a seam on the shoulder pads, possibly intended to resemble a bear claw design.*
*Bear claw as in the animal, not the pastry.
While jerseys leaned towards a more classic look, the pants took a different turn, featuring two… streaking (?) lines towards the front of the leg:
Baylor Bears pants 2011-2012, featuring streaking lines design
via grfx.cstv.com
These pants were available in gold and white, both with green stripes. Green pants from the 2009-2010 collection were worn three times during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. However, their brighter shade of green clashed slightly with the 2011 jerseys, creating a less cohesive look.
In the 2011 season, the team wore green jerseys a remarkable nine times, including two neutral site games. Four of these were in the now-familiar gold-green-gold combination, two were white-green-white, one was white-green-green (less aesthetically pleasing), one gold-green-green, and one featured a brand new helmet:
Baylor Bears matte green helmet 2011, white BU logo outlined in gold
via grfx.cstv.com
For the Alamo Bowl against Washington, Nike provided a matte green helmet with a white BU logo outlined in gold. This helmet was also worn for the 2012 Holiday Bowl. Interestingly, Baylor wore the matte green helmet in both of their bowl victories under Art Briles. Coincidence? Perhaps. But maybe not.
Baylor Bears football uniform 2011 Alamo Bowl, matte green helmet, green jersey, white pants
via grfx.cstv.com
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Christian | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| Stephen F. Austin | White | Green | White | W |
| Rice | White | Green | Green | W |
| @Kansas State | White | White | White | L |
| Iowa State | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Texas A&M | Gold | White | Gold | L |
| @Oklahoma State | Gold | White | White | L |
| Missouri (HC) | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Kansas | White | White | White | W |
| Oklahoma | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| Texas Tech | White | Green | White | W |
| Texas | Gold | Green | Green | W |
| Washington | Green | Green | White | W |
2012: Embracing Black
Although a full uniform redesign was a year away, Nike, recognizing the program’s rising profile, introduced a new uniform color in 2012: black. This was intended to give the Nick Florence-led Bears a more intimidating, “feral warrior” image.
Baylor Bears black jersey 2012, green numbers outlined in gold
via grfx.cstv.com
These black jerseys maintained the general design of previous years, but featured green numbers outlined in gold. Interestingly, these jerseys would likely be deemed illegal today under 2013 NCAA rules, as the green numbers may not provide sufficient contrast against the black jersey, even with the gold outline.
Black pants were also introduced in 2012. The addition of black marked the start of two consecutive years where the gold-green-gold combination was only used once, for Homecoming. Black jerseys were worn at home three times: twice with black pants and once with gold pants. The team also wore gold-black-black on the road against Louisiana-Monroe, the only instance in the Art Briles era of wearing a dark jersey in a true road game. For other road games, a different combination was used each week.
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Methodist | Gold | Black | Black | W |
| Sam Houston State | Green | Green | White | W |
| @Louisiana-Monroe | Gold | Black | Black | W |
| @West Virginia | White | White | White | L |
| Texas Christian | White | Green | White | L |
| @Texas | Gold | White | Gold | L |
| @Iowa state | Green | White | Green | L |
| Kansas (HC) | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Oklahoma | White | White | Black | L |
| Kansas State | Gold | Black | Gold | W |
| @Texas Tech | Gold | White | White | W |
| Oklahoma State | Gold | Black | Black | W |
| @UCLA | Green | White | White | W |
2013-2014: The Ultimate Redesign
The 2013 season brought the most comprehensive Baylor Bears football uniform redesign to date, with new jerseys, pants, and helmets. For the first time, the home green jerseys featured Vegas gold numbers in a new, custom Nike font. Both home and road jerseys incorporated a bear claw pattern. The color palette remained black, green, and white, with gold as an additional pant color. The pants featured a modern “half” stripe design, covering only half the leg vertically.
While the gold helmet was retained, the white helmet, used since 2009, was modified by removing the green stripes and outlining the BU logo in Vegas gold:
Baylor Bears white helmet 2013-2014, Vegas gold outline on BU logo
via grfx.cstv.com
On the matte green helmet, the BU logo colors were reversed:
Baylor Bears matte green helmet 2013-2014, reversed BU logo colors
via grfx.cstv.com
A matte black helmet and a “chrome” gold helmet were also introduced, and together they were worn in 5 of 14 games in 2013. The black helmet featured a championship gold BU logo outlined in green, while the chrome helmet displayed a black BU outlined in championship gold.
Baylor Bears matte black helmet 2013-2014, championship gold BU outlined in green
via grfx.cstv.com
Baylor Bears chrome gold helmet 2013-2014, black BU outlined in championship gold
via grfx.cstv.com
Finally, as a tribute to six decades at Floyd Casey Stadium, the team wore a throwback uniform featuring a plain “old gold” helmet shell, plain dark green jerseys, and white pants with a green and gold side stripe:
Baylor Bears throwback uniform 2013, old gold helmet, dark green jersey, white pants
via grfx.cstv.com
The team sported a different uniform combination for each home game in 2013, excluding the repeated chrome-black-black for the neutral-site Fiesta Bowl. On the road, the “stormtrooper” combination was worn twice, but otherwise, combinations varied weekly.
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wofford | Green | Green | Green | W |
| Buffalo | White | Green | White | W |
| Louisiana-Monroe | Green | Green | Gold | W |
| West Virginia | Chrome | Black | Black | W |
| @Kansas State | Gold | White | Gold | W |
| Iowa State (HC) | Gold | Green | Gold | W |
| @Kansas | White | White | White | W |
| Oklahoma | Black | Black | Black | W |
| Texas Tech | Chrome | Green | Green | W |
| @Oklahoma State | Black | White | Black | L |
| @Texas Christian | White | White | White | W |
| Texas | Gold | Green | White | W |
| Central Florida | Chrome | Black | Black | L |
| Opponent | Helmet | Jersey | Pants | W/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Methodist | Black | Green | Black | W |
Performance by Uniform
The win/loss records for each uniform combination are tabulated above. While uniform choice likely doesn’t directly impact game outcome, fan superstition is a real factor. Performance data is not broken down by jersey color, as home/away status heavily influences jersey color and home-field advantage is significant for Baylor under Art Briles.
Helmet Performance
| Color | W | L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold* | 27 | 19 | .586 |
| White | 9 | 10 | .473 |
| Green | 5 | 1 | .833 |
| Black | 2 | 1 | .667 |
| Chrome | 2 | 1 | .667 |
*Includes the old gold shell worn in the 2013 Texas game.
Baylor’s overall record during the Art Briles era is 45-32 (.584), improving to .640 since 2009, after a 2008 season with limited helmet options. Despite the team’s overall winning record, they have a losing record when wearing white helmets. Correlation or curse?
Further performance breakdown by uniform combination, sorted by frequency and then win percentage:
| Combination | W | L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold-green-gold | 12 | 4 | .750 |
| Gold-white-gold | 3 | 7 | .300 |
| White-green-white | 4 | 4 | .500 |
| White-white-white | 4 | 4 | .500 |
| Gold-white-white | 3 | 3 | .500 |
| Gold-green-white* | 3 | 3 | .500 |
| Gold-black-black | 3 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Gold-green-green | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Green-green-white | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Chrome-black-black | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| Black-black-black | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Black-green-black | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Chrome-green-green | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Gold-black-gold | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Green-green-gold | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Green-green-green | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Green-white-white | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| White-green-green | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Black-white-black | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Gold-white-green | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Green-white-green | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| White-white-black | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| White-white-green | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Gold-gold-gold | 0 | 1 | .000 |
* Includes the throwback uniform worn in the 2013 Texas game.
Final Thoughts
Interpreting these results requires caution. The gold helmet’s .586 win percentage is influenced by its exclusive use in 2008, a less successful season overall. Drawing definitive conclusions is challenging. However, the 4-4 record in the white-green-white combination stands out as the least successful home uniform with multiple appearances. Conversely, the matte green helmets seem linked to positive outcomes.
Ultimately, this analysis serves more as an interesting exploration than a definitive study. However, one takeaway is clear: don’t expect to see white jerseys at home anytime soon. It’s simply not going to happen.
Questions for the Future
1) Considering this data, which uniform combination do you want to see the Baylor Bears wear more often?
2) Which uniform should be retired from the rotation?
3) With Nike designing new uniforms for the 2015 season, what changes or additions would you like to see?
4) Should this type of uniform analysis become a recurring series? What aspects would you like to see explored in the future?
