• New Helmets for 2024 Season

 #89422  by FUwolfpacker
 Mon Aug 19, 2024 2:51 pm
https://furmanpaladins.com/news/2024/8/ ... -2024.aspx

White, black, and purple helmets for this year. All featuring the Stanfield Strong decal.

I can't get the gallery to open for me, but the picture they have the site is matte purple with a single white stripe and a white diamond F. Looks darker than the purple helmets with the black decals from last year.

I'm wondering if we see the black for the home opener. I saw a post for "FU after dark: the trilogy" for the home opener so it would make sense.

Edit: Looks like the gallery is working now. I still like the white helmet the best, but I think the other two look sharp. I think they'll need to be with the right jersey/pants combo. Putting the script name on helmets is very popular these days it seems.

Write up said the logo on the purple helmet is gray but it looks white to me.
Roundball, FUBeAR, dornb liked this
 #89425  by gman84
 Mon Aug 19, 2024 3:45 pm
The helmet gallery is working. The white helmet, no changes. The purple helmet looks much better with white decals and white facemask. The black helmet replaces the chrome helmet. It looks great with the purple and white decals.
FUBeAR, dornb liked this
 #89429  by apaladin
 Mon Aug 19, 2024 4:19 pm
Yes of course the iconic white cannot be replaced. I like the 2 new alternate helmets much better than the 2 alternates they had last year. Agree the logo on the purple one looks white to me which is what it should be. Hope we wear the classic all white uni against Ole Miss.
 #89431  by FUBeAR
 Mon Aug 19, 2024 4:36 pm
FUBeAR likes
gman84 liked this
 #89440  by Paul C
 Mon Aug 19, 2024 10:20 pm
I have mixed feelings about the “Dins” script. Taken at face value it looks cool. But I’m such a sucker for our classic Diamond F look….i suppose for one game a year I’m good w it.
apaladin, dornb liked this
 #89449  by gman84
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 8:19 am
Paul C wrote:
Mon Aug 19, 2024 10:20 pm
I have mixed feelings about the “Dins” script. Taken at face value it looks cool. But I’m such a sucker for our classic Diamond F look….i suppose for one game a year I’m good w it.
I too have mixed feelings about the "Dins" script. I think the underlying purpose is to portray different alternatives like the script and numbers that players really like. The Diamond F should remain our gold standard logo.
dornb liked this
 #89451  by The Jackal
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 8:30 am
I like the additions. Both alternate helmets are an improvement over last year's efforts. If we are going to do alternate helmets, we need to do them as best we can.

- The purple helmet appears to be an inverse of the white helmet. I think it feels "darker" because of the black background in the photos, but we've jettisoned a lot (all?) of the black elements. There's no "sword" helmet stripe. The facemask is white, not black. The purple is lighter.

- As best I can tell, even with the incorporation of black into Furman's uniforms during the Fowler years, this is the first black helmet we've had. The black helmet seems to replace the purple helmet in terms of "dark" elements. Thought starkly different, it's not a large deviation from the traditional white helmet stylistically - same striping, same face mask.

- I know many of us are iffy on the "Dins" moniker, but it's pretty apparent that over the last 10+ years Furman has really pushed that shortened version of the name. It's not uncommon for colleges to brand a shortened nickname on a football helmet (Maryland Terps and WKU Tops come to mind). I'm firmly lukewarm on it.

- We may see these on and off during the season, but I'm also suspecting there's a branding involved behind recruiting. As we've noticed over the past, Furman typically has their recruit announcements with the players in black, I'm assuming because it standout better on social media against lighter backgrounds.

- super excited we jettisoned the "chrome" look after a short run. That seemed like we were trying too hard.

- I know Furman sees itself as traditionalist, but I don't mind these moves in terms of the larger SoCon landscape. Remember, there are 9 SoCon football schools and fully 7of them wear white helmets now. Of those 7, only Furman was historically a white lid. The other six (Mercer, UTC, ETSU, the Citadel, VMI, and Samford) usually wore colored helmets until relatively recently. I would feel confident that the only two teams we'll see this year that I know won't have a white helmet on will be WCU and Wofford.

Essentially, Furman used to stand out with the white helmet. Now that most schools have moved to a white helmet, we may need to keep doing this to stand out.
 #89456  by FUwolfpacker
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 9:33 am
Regardless of how people feel about the 'Dins script, I think a black helmet is a good choice for once, maybe twice, a year. Plus, the diamond F is still on the other side. I'm less opposed to the Dins script than many in here I imagine though.

Won't be for everyone, but assuming the black helmet is combined with the black uniforms from last year, I think that will be a pretty fun look. The black uniforms/helmet combined with 1 night game a year and marketing as "FU after dark" is pretty good work by someone at Furman in my opinion. I appreciate Furman trying something a little different, and the recruits love this stuff. I'm not sure there has ever been a recruit on any level who hasn't loved alternate jerseys/helmets.

As Jackal mentioned, the black helmet will be a good differentiator from the rest of the conference. I can't think of anyone in the SoCon that has worn a black helmet recently. We're still thankfully going to see the white helmet the majority of the time I believe. I will say, I had 3 friends who have no connection to Furman whatsoever who texted me about the helmets yesterday, and all of them liked the black one the most. Regardless of how most feel about them, it never hurts to get Furman's brand in front of new people, especially if they like what they see.
 #89460  by gman84
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:11 am
Wolfpacker is spot on. The all black helmet with the uni is awesome! What makes it is the the purple is outlined in white. Then the pants have the white stripe with a purple stripe on both sides.
DoomedDin1127 liked this
 #89462  by FUBeAR
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:26 am
gman84 wrote:
Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:11 am
Wolfpacker is spot on. The all black helmet with the uni is awesome! What makes it is the the purple is outlined in white. Then the pants have the white stripe with a purple stripe on both sides.
Yep - as evidenced by his recent avatar update, FUBeAR really likes this black helmet. It just looks way-cool with the purple and white contrasts. Have to see how it looks with the uni’s and on the field to be certain, but as a stand-alone, it’s definitely sweet!

BTW - Does WKU really call themselves the “Tops” ???

That’s nasty :?

…better than being the “Bottoms” though … FUBeAR would imagine…
FUwolfpacker liked this
 #89463  by FUwolfpacker
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:42 am
FUBeAR wrote:
Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:26 am
BTW - Does WKU really call themselves the “Tops” ???

That’s nasty :?

…better than being the “Bottoms” though … FUBeAR would imagine…

Image

Found a super secret image of the "Bottoms" helmet but didn't feel like it was appropriate to post here. Maybe in the most improved position thread though.
 #89465  by 'Din Djarin
 Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:59 am
1) White with the diamond-F is irreplaceable.
2) I like the matte purple.
3) If the Dins helmet were white with purple script, I would love it.
4) Keep the receipt on the black helmet with the diamond-F. Mid.
5) Hey Bookstore, offer us some Nike gear with the script Dins on it.
DoomedDin1127 liked this