USC Trojans defensive back Latrell McCutchin (21) and defensive end Solomon Tuliaupupu (58) celebrate during the 2023 Cotton Bowl game between the USC Trojans and the Tulane Green Wave at AT&T Stadium on January 2, 2023.
Spring practice is quickly approaching for the USC football team, and some Trojans have been spotted making a notable adjustment to their uniforms: a white stripe down the center of the helmet.
Doug Samuels of Football Scoop reports that defensive backs are wearing modified helmets.
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So, will one of the most iconic uniforms in college football look different this season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum?
January 2, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; USC Trojans defensive back Latrell McCutchin (21) and defensive end Solomon Tuliaupupu (58) celebrate during the 2023 Cotton Bowl game between the USC Trojans and the Tulane Green Wave at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Milone-USA TODAY Sports
Trojans’ new helmet design is a coaching tool
New defensive coordinator Gary Patterson explained that the stripes on the helmet are not part of the uniform.
Rather, they are a way for him and other coaches to quickly determine where defensive backs are looking.
“It’s an eye problem,” he told Samuels. “… It’s all about where you break your head. When something happens in the secondary, let’s say the No. 2 receiver is out, now I see you look outside and call the corner and tell the corner he’s going to go out and I’m going to look at the receiver outside.”
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Patterson’s 4-2-5 formation requires good communication from the defensive backfield, and stripes can help coaches hold players accountable.
“That’s where the White Stripes come in, not just on the field but maybe more importantly in film studies,” he said. “We had the opportunity to see the helmets turn in the film, and you could see where they were being told, and you could see them pointing because they were pointing as they spoke, so in the film… because we didn’t have the audio, they couldn’t say ‘OK, I said it,’ because we had to see the hand gestures.”
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