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.

Rhode Island (2017), Sacred Heart (2017), UConn (2017)

The Parade O' 2017 Uniforms continues!

Rhode Island (3-8 overall, 2-6 CAA) revived its light gray camo pants after a one-year absence. My suggestion: The overall template is great (well, except for the camo pants), but ditch anything where navy blue is the primary color, which resembles CAA rival Maine too much. Change the helmet to white and/or light blue, make navy a trim color on the numbering and lettering and you have a winner.

Ram on with more Rhody unis: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2003-07, 1997-99, 1983-92, 1976-82, 1967-71, 1966, 1963-65, 1962, 1957-61, 1951, 1947-50, 1936-39. Rivalry Week: UConn-Rhody.

Sacred Heart (4-7 overall, 2-4 NEC) modified its uniform across the board. The jerseys now bear a passing resemblance to Louisville, and the shirts and pants were given some odd striping. Also, the "SHU" on the helmet was given a nice sheen. The all-gray uniform, with last year's template, was used again. 

The Pioneers wore a special star-spangled 9/11 uniform, complete with blue numbers dotted with white stars. The "SHU" on the helmet was given the American flag treatment for the second straight year, and the look also was worn for one road game.

More Sacred Heart uniforms: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2008-12.

UConn (3-9 overall, 2-6 American Athletic Conference) retained its 2016 uniform under Randy Edsall in the first year of his second stint as Huskies coach. The all-gray uniform was ditched (yay!) as was the red facemarks UConn wore on occasion last year. Two years after wearing nine combos, only three were used in '17.

Going by his recent tweets, Edsall has all but said the 2003-12 "C" logo is returning next season. After seeing the clunky designs of the post-Edsall era (see links below), I approve.

UConn coach Randy Edsall recently tweeted this helmet,
featuring the classic 2003-12 "C." Here's hoping it sees game action in 2018.

More UConn unis for the Huskymanicas: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2003 (Inside the Jersey), 2002, 1989-93, 1984-88, 1971-72, 1970, 1966-67, 1965, 1958-60, 1957, 1951, 1950, 1948-49, 1934. Rivalry Week: UConn-Rhode Island. 

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.

Sacred Heart Pioneers (2016), New Hampshire Wildcats (2016)

Two more in our review of 2016 in uniforms. That leaves just Yale and Boston College, which will come in the next week or so.

Sacred Heart (6-5 overall, 1-5 NEC) kept the exact uniforms from 2015 (yay!), except for the addition of a stars-and-stripes helmet for Veterans Day weekend.

More Sacred Heart uniforms: 2013, 2008-12.

New Hampshire (8-5 overall, 6-2 CAA, THIRTEENTH STRAIGHT NCAA FCS tournament) also kept the same look from 2015, which also gets another yay from me.

More UNH uniforms: 2015, 2014, 2010-13, 2000, 1998, 1993, 1975, 1968-71 (part 1),  1969-71 (part 2), 1966-67,  1965, 1955, 1950, 1947-48, 1938, 1936. Rivalry Week: Maine-UNH.

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.

Sacred Heart Pioneers (2008-12)

Just a quick note: Now that we're entrenched into the off-season, I'll probably limit the new posts to twice a week until August, when football gets on everyone's brain again.

Here's our first "historical" Sacred Heart uniform, which doesn't look dramatically different from the current look -- not a bad thing, because I think Sacred Heart has one of the classiest looks going. The big difference here is the lack of stripes on the helmets and a greater emphasis on gray/silver. And hey, you can seem them in action here, and find some pictures here.

Rhode Island (2014), Sacred Heart (2014), UConn (2014)

  We continue our swing through the uniforms of 2014 with two rebuilding programs sandwiched around a championship team.

Rhode Island

  OK, so Rhody's been rebuilding since about 1986, but that's beside the point. Under first-year coach Jim Fleming, the blue pants from previous years were put away after the season opener and white pants were worn the rest of the way. The Rams were 1-11 overall, 1-7 (11th out of 12 teams) in the CAA.

Sacred Heart

  The Pioneers changed nuttin' from last year -- a good thing, I say. Sacred Heart went 9-3 overall and 5-1 in the Northeast Conference to capture the league title. The team was ranked No. 22 at season's end, and reached the NCAA FCS tournament, losing to Fordham in the opening round.

UConn

The Huskies, with new coach Bob Diaco, chopped the eight styles from last year to "only" six, with a midseason face mask change. The Huskies were 2-10 overall, 1-7 (tied for 10th and last) in the American Athletic Conference.

  Up next: UMass, UNH and Yale! 

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 ...