Although USF entered a new era this offseason when it hired former Ohio State assistant Brian Hartline as its new head coach, the program will have a throwback look when it hits the field for its 30th season in 2026.
The Bulls announced over the weekend that they’ll revive their “Gold Standard” alternate helmets, which were originally worn from 2015-16 and 2019-21 and feature a reflective gold “Bull U” logo against a white shell.
The logo is smaller than previous iterations and includes an outline and flakes throughout the logo to match the logo on their standard gold helmets, whereas the original version had a solid gold logo with no outline.
Both versions have a metallic gold facemask, but the newer version has a “Bull U” logo on the front bumper and “South Florida” on the back bumper. The player number and American Conference logo on the back are also gold after they were previously green.
It’s unclear when the “Gold Standard” helmets will debut this season, as the Bulls have the aforementioned gold helmets, white alternate helmets that feature a standard version of their logo and a black alternate lid in their closet.
USF also wore throwback helmets in a win over Charlotte last fall that featured the ‘Iron Bull’ or ‘Robo Bull,’ which the program had on the side of its helmets from 1997-2002. It’s unclear if those will remain in the rotation, though.
Photos courtesy of @USFFootball on X/Twitter.