Uniformly Speaking

With the recent chatter of the possibility (and extreme hopefulness—for some fans) of the Bulldogs wearing black jerseys at some point during the upcoming season, UGASports.com has compiled a timeline of Georgia's football uniform as we get ready for the 2019 campaign (or the 100th anniversary of Georgia players featuring numerals on their jerseys).

From black jerseys to red britches to silver helmets—from subtle to drastic transformations, and returns to former designs—UGA’s gridiron attire through the years:

ca. 1900: By the 1900 season, and maybe as early as 1898 or 1899, some players—but not all—begin wearing headgear. At the time, the “helmet” is more like a flimsy piece of leather than a protective shell.

1919: The first jerseys featuring numerals are worn by Georgia players. Like the first helmets, not all players have numbers on their jerseys—only some.

1937: The Bulldogs begin wearing a helmet which is two-tone in color, or at least is made of two different shades of leather.

1940: Although often mentioned as debuting when Wally Butts became head coach in 1939, Georgia players actually first wear silver pants a season later. The silver britches exhibit red stripes up the back of the legs.

1941: Often associated with the start of the Butts coaching tenure, as well, Georgia’s silver helmets are actually first donned in the head coach’s third season. The change from black to silver leather helmets is apparently because the forward pass has become more routine in the sport. The notion is a colored helmet will make receivers more distinguishable to teammates passing them the football.

1945: After essentially wearing solely red jerseys for roughly a dozen years, the Bulldogs sport white tops in the Oil Bowl against Tulsa on January 1, 1946. The white jerseys feature red numbers outlined in black with black/red/black stripes on the sleeves.

1956: For the first time, the Bulldogs’ helmet features a colored stripe—a red stripe—running down the middle of the shell.

1962: Suddenly, in the middle of the season—and, apparently, without any sort of explanation—Georgia’s helmet displays a logo for the first time ever in the form of a square-style “G” in red. After debuting in the fifth game of the year, the Bulldogs curiously return to their logo-less helmet for games six through eight, before returning to the “G” helmet for the final two games of the year.

1964: With the arrival of Vince Dooley, Georgia’s new head coach revamps the team’s uniform. Believing there is too much emphasis on silver—the color of both the Bulldogs’ helmet and pants, but not even an official color of the school—Dooley introduces red helmets with a distinguished oval “G” and white pants.

1964: Exhibited by punter Mark Faircloth, the Sun Bowl against Texas Tech is believed to be the final time a Georgia player’s helmet is worn in a game without a facemask.

1971: Beginning with his eighth season, Coach Dooley begins awarding players helmet stickers in the form of white stars. Each decal recognizes individual efforts (e.g., a 100-yard rushing performance, intercepting a pass, etc.), as well as team accomplishments.

1976: Marking the first time Georgia displayed a helmet sticker in tribute/memory of someone/an event, the Bulldogs feature a black “64” decal on their helmets in memory of teammate Hugh Hendrix. Hendrix, who wore No. 64 as one of Georgia’s starting offensive guards in 1975, died from a rare blood infection the summer just prior to the ’76 season, or what would have been his senior year.

1978: Beginning with the 1978 season through the 1980 season opener, Georgia wears alternate red pants each of the eight times the Bulldogs don their road white jerseys. Later, they wear the red britches a combined seven times during the 1985, 1987, and 1988 seasons. Georgia has an 8-4-3 record the 15 times it sports the red pants.

1980: On Picture Day just prior to the start of the season, Coach Dooley reintroduces the tradition he halted 16 years earlier: Georgia’s silver britches. For the second game of the season against Texas A&M, the Bulldogs wear their new pants, which soon become such a sensation that the red is discarded as the team's road pants—and the silver britches are worn for every game.

1987: Identifying with the conception of the “Junkyard Dogs” defense from a dozen years before, Georgia establishes the “Junkyard Dawgs Club,” whereby members wear a patch sewn onto the left shoulder of their jersey. Marking the first time Bulldog players wear a jersey emblem, the honor is bestowed on just defenders and only those voted on unanimously by the coaching staff after first being nominated. After just one player enters the season as a club member (senior linebacker John Brantley), nine defenders are voted in by the campaign’s end.

1988: For the first time at Georgia, player jerseys display a sleeve logo in the form of a full-figured bulldog. The decals are worn primarily by skill-position players only, or simply, those whose jersey is not sleeveless (e.g., linemen).

1991: Players wear a black heart on their jerseys to pay tribute to five individuals associated with UGA athletics who have recently passed away: Frank Sinkwich, Joel Eaves, Howard Hollis, Howard Beavers, and “Spec” Towns.

1991: Exhibited during the season by Stuart Saussy, a backup punter and senior walk-on, a single-bar facemask is worn for the final time by a Georgia player.

1991: At the request of the team’s seniors, the Bulldogs alter their helmet for the 1991 Independence Bowl by featuring both a black facemask and center stripe. The black stripe is added to the preexisting white center stripe.

1996: Similarly to the ’91 Independence Bowl, player helmets feature a black-on-white center stripe upon Jim Donnan becoming the Bulldogs’ new head coach.

1997: Georgia breaks its “silver britches” tradition by wearing black pants against Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl played on January 1, 1998. The black britches come at the request of the players wanting to “do something special for the bowl game.” The Bulldogs would wear the black pants again for a second time the following season against Florida.

1999: In what Coach Donnan calls a “fitting memorial,” Georgia wears white pants for the first time in 20 seasons for the fourth game of the year following offensive line coach Pat Watson’s passing from a heart attack after the previous week’s contest. Watson helped design the alternate pants. The Bulldogs would wear the white britches again for their fifth game.

2001: Upon the arrival of Mark Richt, Georgia returns to sporting the single white stripe on its helmets, removing the black-on-white stripe. In addition, after the Bulldogs have awarded helmet decals every season except one (1995) since 1990, the new head coach begins issuing stickers in the form of white bones (on-field performance) and black bones (academics).

2007: Not revealed until game time, yet with most fans at Sanford Stadium dressed for a “blackout” theme, Georgia wears black jerseys against Auburn—the first time doing so in program history (despite there seemingly being evidence of black tops being worn in the past). The Bulldogs wear the black jerseys again in the Sugar Bowl against Hawaii to end the season, the following year against Alabama, and more than eight seasons later in 2016 versus UL-Lafayette.

2009: In a motivational play, and not revealed to the team until about 15 minutes before kickoff, Georgia wears an entire alternate uniform for its game against Florida. The Bulldogs’ new look includes black pants and a black helmet with a red facemask.

2011: For its season opener against Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Georgia wears its alternate Nike Pro Combat uniform. The Bulldogs’ new attire includes red pants, a red jersey with black sleeves, and a silver helmet with a red center stripe—and a rather large one—and a two-tone facemask.

2016: With the arrival of head coach Kirby Smart, Georgia returns to not awarding helmet stickers after 15 seasons of doing so.

For the most part, we just outlined above what we considered major changes/additions in Georgia’s uniform through the years. CHIME IN and give your feedback regarding Bulldogs football, “uniformly” speaking.