Greg McElroy shares what he loves about Ohio State's helmets

In 1968, Ohio State made a major uniform change by switching to silver helmets. That’s when legendary coach Woody Hayes — after a suggestion from athletic trainer Ernie Biggs — had an idea that later became a staple of the Buckeyes program.

Every week, when a player made a big play in practice, he’d earn a sticker. Thus began one of the great traditions in college football, and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is a big fan.

“I always thought to myself, ‘Man, how cool would it be to race amongst your teammates to see who can fill up their helmet the fastest with the buckeye sticker?'” McElroy, now an ESPN analyst, said on Always College Football. “It’s unique, it’s traditional and I think it’s just one of the coolest traditions there is in the sport.”

The tradition has evolved over the years. For example, Jim Tressel wanted to make the stickers team-oriented, meaning individual performances didn’t earn players a buckeye. Urban Meyer was the same way, as he told a young fan on Twitter in 2019. The stickers — a little smaller than they were in 1968 — are aplenty on Ohio State players’ helmets during games as the year goes on, sometimes to the point where you can barely see the silver underneath.

Of course, Ohio State players have had plenty of opportunities to fill up their helmets the last few years as they, as Meyer said, “did something really good to help the Buckeyes win.” The Buckeyes are coming off an impressive 2022 season and wound up making the College Football Playoff despite missing the Big Ten Championship. They took an 11-1 record into the Peach Bowl, only losing to rival Michigan during the regular season, before playing falling to Georgia in a 42-41 thriller.

Now, Ohio State will try to not only make the CFP again, but avenge the two straight losses to Michigan. There have been some changes on the roster, though, most notably with the departure of CJ Stroud to the NFL. Kyle McCord and Devin Brown have been competing to replace him, and that competition will continue into the fall.

Still, the Buckeyes have plenty of returning talent coming back, headlined by wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and running backs Treveyon Henderson and Miyan Williams on offense. On defense, Tommy Eichenberg and Mike Hall lead the group of returners, and Ohio State added two playmakers from Ole Miss via the transfer portal. Defensive lineman Tywone Malone and cornerback Davison Igbinosun are both in the fold as Jim Knowles gets set for his second year as defensive coordinator.