Tennessee Volunteers Helmet History

The first hard shell helmets for the University of Tennessee Volunteers arrived in the 1950's. They were a basic white shell with a single one inch orange stripe down the center. 

• In 1962, orange numbers were added to either side of the helmet.
• Black numbers were added in 1963 by Coach Jim McDonald when he gave the Vols a complete uniform overhaul.
• The first ever T on the helmet arrived in 1964. a basic tall block T was added to the helmet by new coach Doug Dickey.The block T was worn from 1964-1966.
• A black cross was added to the block T in 1965 in memory of the coaches who were struck and killed by a train when their car stalled on the tracks the morning after the Alabama game. The cross was worn for the final 7 games of the season.
• The first iteration of the "Power T" arrived in 1967. The Taller thinner T was worn from 1967-1976.
• For the final 3 games of 1973, the Vols experimented with a double stripe on the helmet to match the stripe on the pants. That was ditched by the start of the 1974 season.
• Johnny Majors arrived on campus as the new Vols head coach in 1977. and with him came a new 2 inch thick stripe down the center of the helmet and a brand new Power T design. The power T logo was made thicker and a bit shorter. This Power T design was used from 1977 to 2014.
• The white face mask became white in 1983. And that over all helmet style remained unchanged from 1983-2014. During that time, there were different front and rear helmet bumper decals added and changed through the years.
• The helmet stripe was made narrow to a 1 inch width for the Holloway era throwback uniforms. The thin helmet stripe stayed from 04-2006.
• Nike took over the Vols uniform contract in 2015, and they brought a heavy rebrand to the helmet. The Power T was tweaked slightly to fit in a 4 in. by 4 in. square and the helmet stripe had a checkerboard design added to the back side of the helmet. the amount of checkerboard squares was made to match the number in the endzones in Neyland Stadium.
• Also in 2015, the Vols added their first ever alternate helmet in school history. the "Smokey Grey" helmet had the same decals on them as the primary white helmet, BUT it featured the silhouette design of the Great Smoky Mountains all over the helmet. The helmets were worn 4 times from 2015-2017.
• in 2018, Coach Pruitt brought the solid orange stripe to the white helmet and the smokey grey helmets were retired.
• 2021 saw the Black jerseys return to Rocky Top, but with a twist, a new alternate #DarkMode Helmet. Classic White gloss helmet shell with a black facemask and the Power T trimmed in Black and a 2 in. black/orange/black stripe. Worn in a win vs. South Carolina.