Helmet stickers, also known as reward decals and pride stickers, are stickers that are affixed to a high school or college football player's helmet. They can denote either individual or team accomplishments.
ESPN says the practice of awarding helmet stickers is often wrongly credited to Ernie Biggs, also a trainer at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes. They instead claim that the practice of awarding stickers began with Jim Young, former assistant coach at Miami in 1965, two years before they were used by the Buckeyes.
An even earlier attribution is given to Gene Stauber, freshman coach at Nebraska (1955–1957) by head coach Pete Elliott. Stauber routinely used stickers throughout his tenure as assistant coach at Illinois (1960–1970), as a 1962 photo of All-American linebacker Dick Butkus indicates. The stickers stem from fighter pilots marking their planes with stickers after kills and/or successful missions.
Michael Pellowski, in his book “Rutgers Football: A Gridiron Tradition in Scarlet," credits Rutgers defensive backs coach Dewey King with being “one of the first” to award decals for helmets in 1961. The stickers were given for interceptions only so they were more difficult to earn. Every time there was an interception, the crowd yelled “give him the star.” The stars can be seen in this photo of the 1961 team walking from the locker room to the field prior to the season finale against Columbia.
Arkansas: Hog Head logo
Clemson: Paw Print
Colorado State: Ram Horn
Duke: Grim Reaper (only for defensive players)
Eastern Michigan
Florida State: Tomahawk (tomahawks given for academic achievements have "ACADEMIC" written up the handle of the tomahawk)
Iowa State: Cy Hawk
Louisiana Lafayette: Fleur-de-lis/Gold Fleur-de-lis
Louisiana Monroe: Maroon Star/Warhawk Talon
Miami: Green hurricane/Orange hurricane
Michigan: Football with a wolverine
Michigan State: White Block "S"/Javelin
Minnesota: "Gold Standard"
Nevada: Axe
New Mexico
Ohio State: Buckeye leaf
Stanford: Axe
Toledo: Yellow Rocket
Western Michigan: Crossed Oars
West Virginia: Musket
Alabama A&M
Florida A&M: Snake Heads
Fordham University: Ram Head
Illinois State: Reggie Redbird
North Carolina A&T
Youngstown State: White Star
New Hampshire
Butler: Dog Bone
South Dakota State
Mississippi State BullDogs
Air Force: Lighting Bolt
Appalachian State: Yosef
Arizona: Wildcat Paw
Arkansas State: "I Will"
Baylor: Green Star
Bowling Green: "BG" logo
BYU: Gold Cougar (Personal Goals) and Blue Cougar (Team Goals, Wins)/"HC"(used only on throwback helmets)
California: Football (football with big C and "WIN" on it, Growling Bear head ('70s))
Central Michigan: Yellow Block C
Cincinnati
Colorado: Buffalo
East Carolina: Skull Pirate Logo
Florida Atlantic
Fresno State: White Bone, Yellow Bone, and Black Bone
Georgia: White Bone (football excellence) and Black Bone (academic excellence)
Georgia State: Panther, a block "M" (standing for magnanimatas, or "greatness of spirit" in Latin), and a gold star for academics
University of Hawaii: Warrior helmet and cross spears
Houston: White Paw
Indiana
Kentucky: White Wildcat Paw/Blue Wildcat Paw(only on white helmets)
Louisville: Cardinal
Marshall: Green Horn
Maryland: Red Turtle and Yellow Turtle
Memphis: Tiger Paw
Miami(Ohio): Star/Tomahawk
Middle Tennessee State: Pegasus
Mississippi State: White Bone
Missouri: Tiger Paw
North Carolina State: Wolf Fang
New Mexico State: Aggie "A"
North Carolina: Tar Heel
Northern Illinois: White Bone
Rice: Owl
Rutgers: Silver Star/Sword
San Jose State
Southern Miss: Eagle
South Carolina: Gamecock foot with spur
South Florida: Green Bull Logo
Temple: Diamond
Tennessee
Texas Tech: Red Star
Tulane: Fleur-de-lis
Tulsa: Skull and Crossbones
UConn: Huskie/"C" logo
UCLA: Blue Bear Paw
Utah: Utes logo
Utah State: Block letter 'A'/Bull
Vanderbilt: Ship Anchor(only on gold helmets)
Western Kentucky: "WKU" Red Towel logo
Wyoming: Small Bucking Horse