Central Connecticut State, Colgate, Holy Cross, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Stonehill (2024)

The review of 2024 uniforms continues with six FCS teams — two from the Patriot League, two from the Northeast Conference and two independents. Before we start, a minor rant about the two independents ...

Before the season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart left the Northeast Conference for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Since the MAAC doesn't sponsor football, the schools played as independents on the gridiron. Someone at one of these two schools had the bright idea of having these lonely hearts face off late in the season for the "Yankee Conference championship," complete with a replica of the old Bean Pot trophy last seen residing in the Willam & Mary trophy case.

Of course, this is completely ridiculous, as these schools have zero connection to the beloved and long-gone Yankee Conference of Maine, UNH, UMass and other New England cow colleges. (As a Maine grad, I can call them that.) This reminds me of a story I once read — perhaps apocryphal — about an obscure 1970s band that announced that since no one else was using the name, they were going to call themselves "The Beatles." (It went nowhere.) What's next, Texas State and Texas-San Antonio playing for the "Southwest Conference" championship? 

That said, if hell freezes over and the America East finally decides to sponsor football, I would be more than happy to have Merrimack and Sacred Heart as members.

OK, on to the unis:

Central Connecticut State, the NEC champion, didn't change a thing from '23, with the exception of the NCAA patch worn in the FCS tournament, where it almost upset Rhode Island. (Anyone remember when Rhody almost joined the NEC in a money-saving effort?)

Colgate also changed nada from the previous season, which is a good thing, says I.

Holy Cross made a couple minor changes. The Crusaders made slight alterations to their road jerseys, with wider numbers and a narrower wordmark, and the purple helmets used the "shield" logo in place of the big "HC" that had been used for more than a decade. (I prefer the "HC", but that's just me.) Holy Cross also dusted off the black alternate jerseys, last worn in 2022. The shirts were first worn in 2019 and thus had the college football 150th anniversary patch almost everyone else wore that year. Five years later, the patch remains!

Merrimack replaced the "MC" helmet logo with the school seal, a quite Ivy-ish move, if I say so myself. The Warriors covered up the NEC logo with an American flag patch.

Sacred Heart made a couple very minor changes. The star-spangled helmet, which is usually worn around the anniversary of 9/11, replaced the "SHU" logo with a script "Pios," short for Pioneers. (Funny, I always thought of them as the "'Neers." 😎) Like their "Yankee Conference" rivals, the Pioneers covered the NEC logo with the American flag.

For the second straight year, Stonehill wins the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) award for the fewest uniform designs: The Skyhawks used the same three unis they wore last year.

Central Connecticut State, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Stonehill (2023)

The 2023 parade o' uniforms (slowly) continues with New England four Northeast Conference teams.

Central Connecticut State changed its helmet logo, ditching the blue devil next to the "CC" for a pitchfork. The logo also appears on both sides of the helmet, ditching the logo-on-one-side-uniform-number-on-the-other-side look that I can't stand. The jersey and pants remain unchanged from the last few years; I like the Blue Devils' commitment to consistency.

Merrimack made no real changes from last year, unless you count the return of yellow pants after a year's absence. Honestly, there's not much to complain about the Warriors' uniforms.

Sacred Heart's only real change was an update to the all-gray alternate, which now more closely matches the red and white uniforms. The "PIONEERS" down the side of the gray pants goes in the opposite direction of the red and white versions, which I'm sure will ruin a lot people's breakfast. 😎

Stonehill changed its jerseys and pants, adding a more contemporary number font while switching to more traditional sleeves. The helmets remained unchanged.

Bryant, Central Connecticut St., Merrimack, Sacred Heart (2021)

Time for the latest round of the uniforms of 2021, this time with a trip through the New England schools in the Northeast Conference. You can see the Ivy League here, the CAA teams here and the FBS indies here. The review will continue with Colgate and Holy Cross and wrap up with Boston College after its bowl game. 

Bryant made its most significant change since the program's founding in 1999, dumping the plain gold helmet it had worn since day one for a black version, with a number on one side and the bulldog logo on the other. The home and road jerseys also underwent a change and have a consistent look for the first time in a few years. The bulldog logo on the helmets and sleeves marks the first it has been featured on the uniform someplace other than the pants, a definite upgrade. (For a few years Bryant had a goofy-looking "B" in a shield on the sleeves.)

Central Connecticut State, which also has a logo on one side of the helmet and a number on the other, replaced the "CC" logo from seasons part with the blue devil head. CCSU, which sat out last season because of COVID-19, continued to wear all-blue at home and all-white on the road. The Blue Devils also wore a pink stripe down the middle of helmet for several games in October for breast cancer awareness. If you look closely, you can see the word "FIGHT" imprinted all over the stripe. 

Merrimack added some flair when it unveiled an all-yellow uniform at Homecoming, giving the Warriors three jerseys and two sets of pants. (Some teams, like Bryant, UNH and Maine, have two jerseys and three pants, which I don't understand. Third jerseys > third pants; you can make more fun combos.) The shirts retained the same basic pattern as the home and road versions, although the road whites continue to lack shoulder numbers. 

Finally, Sacred Heart, which won its second straight NEC title, trotted out eight different combos, including the star-spangled and gray alternate uniforms, which returned after a year's absence. The Pioneers also wore a helmet with a 9-11 tribute logo on the right side for their  first two games.

Bryant (2018-19), Central Connecticut (2018-19), Merrimack (2019), Sacred Heart (2018-19)

Talk about a mental lapse the size of an offensive line. I knew Merrimack College (North Andover, Mass.) was moving up to Division I from D-II for the 2019-20 school year; it wasn't until the last week or so when I realized, "Oh, yeah, I've got a new team to add to the site!" So welcome aboard, Merrimack; that boosts the number of current D-I programs featured here to 20. Let's take a look at this year's uniforms from Merrimack and fellow Northeast Conference teams Bryant, Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart. Since I basically blew off the NEC teams last year (apologies!), we'll include the 2018 uniforms from Bryant, CCSU and SHU, too.

Bryant (6-5, 2-4 in 2018; 4-8, 3-4 in '19) kept its basic black-and-gold look in 2018 before it phased out the gold pants in '19 (worn just once) in favor of black and white versions. The Bulldogs modified their home and road jerseys, but there are subtle differences; the homes have the Bryant wordmark in the school font and the numbers in a traditional font; the roads have Bryant in a traditional block serif font (like last year), but curved numbers. 

Central Connecticut (6-5, 4-2 in '18; 11-2, 7-0 and an NCAA FCS Tournament berth in '19) kept the basic look it's had the last few years, but the Blue Devils modified their road unis in '19 to better match the homes. The '18 jerseys come with and without the NEC patch on the front.

Merrimack (6-5, not eligible for NEC title but 1-3 against NEC foes) had a winning record, although three wins were over non D-I teams and a fourth was over fellow D-I newbie LIU (formerly D-II C.W. Post). The Warriors' uniforms are pretty simple, but the program's first uniforms from the late '90s (coming soon to a post near you!) make the current duds resemble Oregon's. Yale was the only other team on this site to not wear any alternate helmets or jerseys, or mix and match their unis. One oddity: The home jerseys have shoulder numbers, while the roads do not.

Sacred Heart (7-4, 5-1 and co-NEC champs in '18; 7-5, 4-3 in '19), on the other hand, did plenty of mixing and matching, particularly with the helmets in '19. The Pioneers wore their regular helmets; the star-spangled helmets they usually wear the first couple games of the season; and a helmet with a throwback pioneer logo used in the 1990s (look closely; it bears a passing resemblance to a certain beloved NFL logo). The jerseys and pants, including the hideous all-gray ensemble, remained unchanged. The 9/11 star-spangled jersey, first worn in 2017, wasn't worn in '18 but returned in '19.

Brown (2017), Bryant (2017), CCSU (2017)

It's that time of the year again -- hop on the sleigh, stuff the stockings and review the uniforms for the 18 active teams in our little project. We'll go alphabetically, more or less. (Since my files list Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire as UConn, UMass and UNH, they'll have to wait a bit.) We'll also skip Boston College for now, since the Eagles still have a bowl game in a couple weeks. So without further ado ...

Brown (2-8 overall, 0-7 Ivy League) didn't change a thing from last year's uniforms, which means the ugly black alternates are still around. Repeat after me: If black is not one of your primary colors, you shouldn't use it for an alternate jersey. Which is too bad, because Brown's regular home and road unis are among the best in the Ivy League, and the helmet logo, with the ivy weaving through the "B," is among the classiest around.

The Bears also added a black "JM" patch to the jerseys this year; I'm embarrassed to admit that despite tons of searches, I have no idea of the patch's significance. Readers?

More unis from the sons of Bruno: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012-13, 2004-08, 2001-03, 1997-2000, 1984-89, 1981-83, 1978, 1975-77, 1973-74, 1972, 1967-71, 1959-65, 1957-58, 1951-56, 1914.

Bryant (6-5, 4-2 NEC) kept its uniform from last year, but brought back the white pants last worn in 2015. With the exception of one game, the Bulldogs wore the all-white uni on the road.

I like how the basic elements of Bryant's uniform have gone mostly unchanged since the program's founding in 1999, with the exception of those gray pants the Bulldogs wore for a couple years (see links below). The plain gold helmet is just that -- plain -- but it's also the only design Bryant has ever worn in an age of nonstop change and alternate helmets, and that's reassuring.

A few more barkin' Bryant unis:  2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2004-06, 1999-2000.

Central Connecticut (8-4, 6-0 NEC, NEC champs, first FCS playoff appearance in team history) switched to a white helmet from a blue helmet, which the Blue Devils had worn forever, although I kept waiting for the blues to make at lest one appearance this year. The helmets still have the logo on one side and the uniform number on the other, a disease that seems to permeate many teams that wear Nike uniforms. The white pants, which were last worn in 2015, returned and were worn exclusively with the roads. 

With only two uniform designs used all season, CCSU is the first of four teams this season to receive a "KISS" Award -- Keep It Simple, Stupid. Well done.

Some more garb from CCSU: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 1968.

Bryant Bulldogs (2016), Central Connecticut Blue Devils (2015-16)

We continue our look at the uniforms of 2016 with a pair of Northeast Conference teams.

Bryant (5-6 overall, 4-2 NEC) might have the most improved uni of 2016. The tired Adidas template and unnecessary steel-gray pants from last year were ditched in favor of a more basic look, with a word mark and numbers that are more readable. One minor nit-pick: The "B" shield on the sleeves that looks more at home on a superhero. Uniform numbers would have been better.

A few more Bryant unis:  2015, 2014, 2013, 2004-06.

Central Connecticut (2-9 overall, 1-5 NEC) also made a major upgrade, having ditched its overly busy home jersey for a more basic look that uses the same number font as the roads. The striping is different on the home and road jerseys, but that's a very minor quibble. One downer: The logo-on-one-side, uniform-number-on-the-other-side helmet. I HATE HATE HATE that look, especially since the CCSU logo is a good one.

As far as I know, the white pants from last year weren't used in 2016. Pics from CCSU football are hard to find, for some reason, so who knows?

As an added bonus, I corrected the 2015 road jersey (the same shirt the Blue Devils wore in '16), which upon further review uses a slanted number font.

Some more garb from CCSU: 2014, 2013, 1968.

Next up: Columbia and maybe even Cornell.

Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Sacred Heart (2015)

We continue the 2015 round-up with the NEC 3. This leaves us with only UConn, which I'm saving for after next week's bowl game.

Bryant

The Bulldogs, who went 5-6 overall, 3-3 in the NEC, kept the exact same look from last year. 

Central Connecticut State

The "other" Blue Devils kept the same home jersey and pants, but introduced completely new -- and vastly improved, sez I -- road versions. Hopefully, there'll be an accompanying home version in 2016. One oddity: When CCSU opted to wear white pants at home against Dartmouth, it chose to wear last year's pants instead of the new white pants. Give CCSU credit for continuity. The Devils were 4-7 overall, 3-3 in NEC action.

Sacred Heart

The normally staid Pioneers decided to mix things up a bit this fall. They added red alternate pants and an all bluish-gray alternate uniform that kept the same basic design as the home and road shirts. It's not as good as UMass' gray uni, but it's far better than Penn's. Last season's NEC champs were 6-5 overall, 3-3 league.

Clean-Up Week (Part 1)

Hi, and welcome to Clean-Up Week, where we clean up some mistakes from the last seven months. The fixes you see here have also been made on the original posts. So, without further ado ...

Boston College (1984): Made front numbers larger; added Cotton Bowl uniform.

Boston College (1994): Made 125th anniversary patch larger.

Central Connecticut State (1968): Changed V-neck on back of home shirts.

Central Connecticut State (2013-14): Changed V-neck on back of home shirts. Weird I made the same mistake for two totally different shirts for the same school.

Columbia (1996): Changed v-neck on back of home shirts.

Cornell (1994): Made 125th anniversary patch larger.

Fairfield (1996 and 2001): Eliminated the right-side perspective helmet. I dunno, I just thought it looked weird.

More later this week!

Central Connecticut Blue Devils (1968)

Better late than never, a historical uniform from the school previously known as Teachers College of Connecticut, Connecticut State Normal School and Central Connecticut State College until becoming Central Connecticut State University around 1983. CCSU first fielded a football team since 1935, joined Division I in 1993 and entered the Northeast Conference in '96.

Historical info for the Blue Devils is sketchy, at best; I've relied heavily on the now-defunct Dial yearbook for photos (Aren't I glad I used Dial? #rimshot). Some years feature players in home and road uniforms, but most don't. I'm afraid some years are likely lost to history.

The 1968 CCSU uniform (I know it was technically CCSC, but I'm using CCSU to avoid confusion in the marketplace) kinds of looks like a mashup of UConn (jerseys) and UNH (helmets) from this period. The home and road jerseys are quite different: The roads have crew necks, numbers on the sleeves and "BLUE DEVILS" across the top.

The '68 Blue Devils in action. From the 1969 Dial yearbook.

The '68 Blue Devils were 6-2-1 and outscored its foes 152-40. Only American International was able to crack double digits against CCSU, a 14-14 tie. The coach, William Loika, went 94-72-3 from 1964-81 and won four Eastern Football Conference titles. (Aren't I also glad College Football Data Warehouse exists.)

On the road and in the mud.

Brown (2014); Bryant (2014); Central Connecticut (2014)

  For the next few weeks, we're going to look at the 2014 uniforms for all the teams in our project. Some used the exact same style as last year (Harvard), some made major overhauls (UNH, Dartmouth) and some made minor tweaks, like two of the three teams shown today.

  We'll do this in more-or-less alphabetical order, but we'll skip Boston College until after its bowl game. 

Brown

  We already posted Brown's uniform here, but for the sake of completeness, here it is again. The big change was the addition of a throwback alternate jersey to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the school. The Bears were 5-5 overall, 3-4 (fifth) in the Ivy League.

Bryant

  Bryant's uniforms were the same as in 2013, with two notes: 1) The new NEC logo patch, and 2) The black shirt/white pants combo from '13 was not used.

  The Bulldogs were 8-3 overall, 4-2 (third) in the NEC and were ranked in the FCS top 25 for much of the season.

Central Connecticut

  CCSU's uniforms stayed the same as last year's, only with the addition of a fourth combo and the NEC patch. The white pants were also slightly altered. The Blue Devils were 3-9 overall, 1-6 (tied for sixth and last) in the NEC.

Bryant Bulldogs (2013); Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (2013); Sacred Heart Pioneers (2013)

The limited-scholarship Northeast Conference (NEC) doesn’t receive much respect in FCS football; its teams didn’t receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament until a few years ago, when the tourney expanded beyond 16 teams. Heck, I’m not giving it much respect; I’m lumping the three NEC teams in my uniform project into a single entry! Perhaps that should change, since Bryant - excuse me, nationally-ranked Bryant - is 2-0 against CAA teams this year, including a win over my Black Bears, and Central Connecticut State defeated Albany of the CAA this season. 

BRYANT

When I was growing up, Smithfield, R.I.-based Bryant was best known as the home of the New England Patriots’ training camp. The Pats no longer train there, but they must have left an impression; the Bulldogs fielded their first football team in 1999 and joined Division I in 2008. The program’s all-time record is 88-61 going into this season.

Bryant’s 2013 uniforms bear a striking resemblance to Army; I dunno, but gold helmets and slate-gray pants just clash to these eyes. The all-white look is not bad, though.

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE

The pride of New Britain, Conn., Central Connecticut State first fielded a team in 1935. The Blue Devils have captured four NEC titles in the last decade, but alas, that was before the conference scored an automatic NCAA bid. Judging by the opponents in the team media guide, it looks like CCSU has played in Division I since the early 1990s (although the Devils faced Maine several times in the 1970s and even beat the Bears in 1973).

The school's most notable football alumnus might by Steve Addazio, the Boston College head coach who’s turned the Eagles around after a few dark years.

As for the uniforms … Well, at least the helmets are nice, right?

SACRED HEART

Fairfield, Conn.-based Sacred Heart University is a relative pup to college football, having first played the game in 1991. The Pioneers have had a fair amount of success that's included an undefeated season in 2001. Sacred Heart and CCSU face off every year in the “Constitution State Rivalry,” with CCSU holding a 9-7 edge in the all-time series.

This is a sharp uniform, easily the best of the three NEC teams here. It’s a typical Adidas template, but it’s a good template. That’s a pretty unique shade of red, though.

Up next … We’ll let’s reach into the grab bag and see what comes out. Ooh, I think I see an eagle feather or three ...