1940-1969 | Michigan Football Uniform Timeline — MVictors.com

Welcome to the MVictors Uniform Timeline where below you will find a descending timeline of changes to the Michigan football team uniforms over the years.

Note: For all uniform changes prior to 1970, the rules change a bit. If I have a compelling photo of an actual jersey (or portion of a jersey) over this period, I will include it in the timeline even if it didn’t mark a particular change in design or new feature:

1969 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

Bo Schembechler arrives as head coach and performs a massive overhaul of the uniform:
HELMET: Maize numbers are removed from the sides of the helmets (they return for the 2011 season and the first game for the 2012 season).
HELMET: Award stickers are placed on helmets in the form of solid maize football-shaped decals.

Bo applies helmet stickers, September 1969 [Bentley Historical Library]

Don Moorhead’s 1970 helmet via Helmet Hut:

SHOES/SOCKS: Team adopts new style of shoe and cleat for use on the newly installed artificial turf in Michigan Stadium. Black trim added on socks.
JERSEY: Block ‘M’ removed from sleeves on home and road jerseys, replaced with numbers:

1968 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

JERSEY: Block ‘M’ added to home (blue) jersey sleeves (now on both home and road).
SHOES/SOCKS: Black block ‘M’ on white socks. Players are primarily wearing Riddell (black shoes with white & black trim around ankles) and Spot-bilt cleats, but some are adopting the “new” shoe – adidas.

October 13, 1962 | East Lansing, MI | vs. Michigan State

JERSEY: Away (white) jerseys on certain U-M players feature a maize wolverine “wolverbear” logo on the left shoulder. U-M assistant Bob Hollway got the idea from the Army football squad which employed patches on particular team units. More on the story behind the patch here.

Below, see Michigan equipment manager Henry Hatch applying this patch on Ron Kocan (88) and Jim Conley (82) in October 1962 (Bentley Historical Library):

This jersey also appeared in the October 20, 1962 game the following week at Purdue (via the Michigan Daily archives)

1960 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

HELMET: Team MVP Dennis “Denny” Fitzgerald becomes the last Michigan player (and many suggest the last player of any college team) to wear a leather helmet. Photo via the Bentley Historical Library.

1957 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

JERSEY/PANTS: Here is the game jersey, belt, and pants of 1957 senior right end Mike Shatusky. (Thanks to reader Ben Duncan, Shatusky’s grandson, who provided this photo).

HELMET: A subtle change to the helmet look as the center stripe is extended; it now goes to the very bottom of the rear of the helmet. (Pics and notes via Helmet Hut).

Following 1956 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

JERSEY: Following the 1956 season, Michigan retires the #87 belonging to Ron Kramer. (In 2012 Kramer and the #87 officially entered the Michigan Football Legends program and returned to the field. In 2015, Kramer’s #87 is retired once again after the Legends program is canceled.)

1956 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

HELMET: The team added face masks to their helmets for the first time and identified the players with two-inch Green Bay gold numerals on each side of the winged and striped navy blue helmet. While the appearance of the helmet numbers is commonly associated with Bump Elliott’s arrival in 1959. From the 1956 Minnesota game [Bentley Historical Library]:

Here’s the photo of Tom Maentz and Kramer used for the cover of the November 12, 1956 edition of Sports Illustrated. While helmet numbers are not visible, this was a press photo, and it is unclear when it was taken:

1952 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

JERSEY/PANTS: Here is the jersey and pants worn by 1952 senior center Wayne Melchiori:

October 15, 1949 | Evanston, IL | vs. Northwestern

JERSEY: Michigan wears white jerseys for the first time while playing Northwestern on the road. (Source: Champions of the West). Photos via the U-M Bentley Historical Library:

September 27, 1947 | Ann Arbor, MI | vs. Michigan State

Added due to this being one of the first color photos from a game showing the full uniform. The photo appeared in Collier’s Magazine:

Also – Via the U-M Bentley Historical Library: Bob Chappuis (and fiancée Anne Gestie) appeared on the cover of LOOK magazine just before the 1948 Rose Bowl game. It is one of the earliest known color photos of the Michigan Uniform:

1946 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

HELMET: According to the U-M Bentley Historical Library, the first Michigan facemask may have appeared this season on the helmet of Gene Derricotte. More from the Bentley here.

1943 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

While there’s no known uniform change during this year, a memorabilia auction revealed an original 1943 jersey that belonged to Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch:

November 23, 1940 | Columbus, OH | vs. Ohio State

JERSEY: Following his final game at Michigan, Tom Harmon’s #98 jersey is retired at the direction of longtime equipment manager Henry Hatch. Harmon later wins the 1940 Heisman Trophy.

Note: The #98 jersey appeared again in 2013 (on QB Devin Gardner – see above) as Tom Harmon entered the Michigan Football Legends program. In 2015 the Legends Program was canceled, and the 98 returned to retirement.

1940 Season | Ann Arbor, MI

PANTS: According to the Michigan Daily, U-M introduced “Yellow, Lightweight Pants” this season. Via the 10/1/1940 M Daily:

Those drab colored pants of last year have been abandoned in the light of this style wave. And what a ‘light.’ They’re a brilliant yellow now…and knitted at that. This material is supposed to eliminate binding and, of all things, assures a form fit.

From the October 6, 1940 Michigan Daily: