Ranking Every USF Football Uniform of the Decade, Part V: The Top Ten

Hello and welcome to the final part of our ranking of every USF football uniform worn over the past decade! For the uninitiated: our intrepid panel of fashion-forward reporters have individually rated each uniform, ranked the uniforms by average rating, and gathered to discuss each one. What follows is the consensus ranking, along with their deliberations and debates.

The panel consists of five people:

Robert Steeg, student equipment manager, USF, 2014.

Will Kennedy, athletic training assistant, USF, 2015-2017; equipment graduate assistant, Northwestern, 2018.

Jamie DeVriend: verified USF historian; has watched significantly more USF football than anyone else on the panel, and thus presumably has seen a lot of uniforms.

Nathan Bond, Managing Editor of The Daily Stampede, so he gets on the panel if he wants.

Ryan T. Smith, came up with the idea; generally nice guy.

After hours of discussion, the panel has whittled the 53-uniform field down to a top ten, which they humbly present to you below. All of these uniforms received at least an 8.0 average rating and were, with a few exceptions, universally beloved.

If you missed any of the previous parts, you can find them below:

Part One: #53 to #44 (average rating between 1.0 and 4.0)

Part Two: #43 to #35 (average rating between 4.0 and 5.0)

Part Three: #34 to #23 (average rating between 5.0 and 6.5)

Part Four: #22 to #11 (average rating between 6.5 and 8.0)

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#10
Average Rating: 8.0
Life Span: 2015 - 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 1-1

Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Steeg: Probably one of my favorite away unis of all time.

Nate: These are very nice. Understated jersey/pants combo. Then God’s Helmet really sets the mood.

Ryan: Not as beautiful as the version with the white pants, but zero complaints from me. It has God’s Helmet, and it’s gorgeous.

Will: These are just so good. It’s just frustrating that Under Armour finally got our uniforms great and then we bail on them. I love the horns on the shoulder, and the line down the pants looks great on the green pants.

Jamie: Wait until we get to this combo with the green helmet and you’ll understand why these aren’t as good.

#9
Average Rating: 8.0
Life Span: 2016 - 2017
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 5-1

Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Jamie: Man, these are so good. The green sleeves really help tie it together, give the whole uniform a good amount of accent.

Steeg: A very good away set. The consistent stripes on the pants and shoulders are minor but eye-catching.

Will: I love the chrome green facemask. It looks so good here.

Ryan: Again, these aren’t the flashiest of the 2016 combos and as such it was a bit of a bummer to me that these were the ones Charlie picked out to be the base set in 2017. But seriously, no complaints. They’re terrific. I wish we kept wearing them instead of whatever horrifying tire bookstore combo we’re wearing now.

Will: This is a perfect generic away uni set. A different helmet could make it better, but these are as good as it can get for a classic USF look.

Nate: Classic look. The away whites were great.

#8
Average Rating: 8.0
Life Span: 2017
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 1-0

Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Steeg: Oh YES.

Ryan: Now we’re cooking with gas on the SoFlos. These are a bit goofy and the shoulder/stripe placement could be better, but the white helps to balance the neon nicely. They look like delectable Sprite cans.

Jamie: The iconic U on the sleeve is annoying. Other than that, these are just about perfect.

Nate: Almost losing to Tulsa on senior night. Thanks, Sterlin. Love the gloves and pants.

Will: The only thing that really frustrates me about this is the decal/shoulder and how when you’re looking from the side like this, there are two different color iconic U’s. Other than that, they’re fantastic. This might be my favorite helmet decal ever.

#7
Average Rating: 8.2
Life Span: 2014 - 2015
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 0-2

gousfbulls.com

Will: Wow, #8 is way better than #7 here. I think the gradient on the whites looks way better. I think it’s kinda goofy looking on these.

Ryan: This, to me, is SoFlo done right. I get the detractors. I get the SoFlo stans. I am somewhere in the middle. I think this is objectively good.

Steeg: Chaotic and fun, these had some good energy to them. If we can bring back 1/5th of the originality here under Jeff Scott, we are going to be set.

Nate: I really enjoy the numbers and the pants. I’d like if the USF was in a different color (maybe white), but picking nits on a great jersey combo. I don’t hate the white helmet.

Ryan: “I don’t hate the white helmet” ALERT THE PRESSES.

Jamie: So not only is Nate wrong, but he’s inconsistent. You could be Governor of Florida, Nate.

#6
Average Rating: 8.4
Life Span: 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 1-0

Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Jamie: Great look, and great memories of the most exciting, wheels-off game in school history.

Steeg: These unis bring back fond memories of USF football. I’m about to rewatch those highlights.

Nate: Beautiful uniform, awesome ending to the game. Peak Quinton Flowers.

Will: God I love that uniform so much. This is the best possible use for Cousin of God’s helmet. And the best combo for the white unis overall, I think.

Ryan: This is fantastic. I would entirely agree with Will except for the next entry.

#5
Average Rating: 8.7
Life Span: 2015 - 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 1-2

Jamie: GOD YES. I should have given these a 10. There is nothing wrong with these. Nothing.

Nate: Such a good uniform. There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s practically perfect in every way.

Steeg: Across the board a pretty set.

Ryan: I don’t think about these when i think of the best USF uniforms of all time, but I absolutely should. They’re perfect.

Will: These are fantastic. I think I like the all white with the green helmet a bit more. But it’s really, really close.

Jamie: This is why I like white jerseys better than green. Look what you can put around them. These are spectacular.

Ryan: The only reason they’re only at #5 is because God’s Helmet exists, but this, as Jamie astutely mentioned, is actually better than the same combo with God’s Helmet (see: #10).

#4
Average Rating: 8.8
Life Span: 2015 - 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 0-2

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Will: WHAT. HOW IS THIS NOT NUMBER ONE.

Ryan: For my money, this is the best thing USF football has ever worn. I gave out only one 10 in this whole competition and it’s this uniform, because nothing else can touch it for me.

Will: This is easily the best uniform USF has ever worn. I’m going to be salty for the rest of the list because this wasn’t ranked first.

Ryan: USF is 0-2 in this uniform because it is too beautiful for this world. Its heavenly powers cannot be summoned by mere mortals.

Nate: Only better way to cap that 2015 season was with a win. But I’ll settle for a great combo and the knowledge things turned around.

Ryan: It should also be noted that for our biggest home game in ages vs. FSU in 2016, those are the uniforms we chose. It was a foolish mistake to attempt to harness so much divine power.

Will: We harnessed it so well for the first play.

Jamie: I just don’t think the white helmet works as well with the green jersey.

Steeg: I‘m with Jamie. The green jersey didn’t go with it as much as I’d like.

Will: And imagine, I used to be friends with Steeg.

#3
Average Rating: 9.1
Life Span: 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 1-0

Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan: One of the best one-off alternates USF has ever worn, if not the best.

Nate: Best one-off ever made. I LOVE the font of the USF. The shoulders, helmet, under sleeves - it’s flawless.

Jamie: Absolutely the best one-off. It even had a tie-in to the site of the campus.

Ryan: Wait, what was the tie-in? Remind our readers (me).

From Jamie’s article when these were announced: The X-shaped runways of Henderson Field that are evoked in the pointillist helmet decal and shoulders were actually a little bit south of the current USF campus. According to this 2015 Tampa Tribune article, when World War II ended it was thought Henderson Field would end up becoming the site of an international airport. But with Pinellas County threatening to build one of their own, and the FAA only interested in having one international airport for all of Tampa Bay, Tampa decided to expand the more centrally located Drew Field into a full-service airport. (The current Tampa International Airport was built on a different part of the property.) Henderson Field, then called Henderson Airport, was closed and the northern end of it was included in the parcel of land that became the USF campus.

Steeg: One of the very few good Salute to Service unis we’ve ever had. Also, that decal is so unique and cool. I wish we could bring it back.

Will: Okay. I know I ranked this high, because it is nice. However - and I feel like this is about to be universally disagree with - far too much green.

Ryan: I don’t disagree with Will on the green overdose, which is the only reason why this isn’t a 10 for me. It’s not as pretty as some of the others in the top ten, but the creativity here is unmatched.

#2
Average Rating: 9.2
Life Span: 2015 - 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 2-0

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Will: Oh y’all are TRIPPIN. This is top 5, sure. But 2?!

Nate: GIMME ALL THE PINK. I love pink accents so much. I have pink basketball socks I wear whenever I hoop at a gym. They’re my favorite accessory. Green and pink just works.

Steeg: This was the uniform that screamed “we are better than you,” and I loved that. That pink USF logo is the best thing this school has ever done.

Ryan: I don’t know many other schools that has made pink a substantive part of their uniform - for good reason! It’s hard! And we pulled it off!

Jamie: No, we didn’t pull it off. Komen pink and our school colors don’t work AT ALL.

Ryan: I agree with Steeg, it’s the spirit of the thing that makes this amazing. We didn’t just add pink accents for breast cancer awareness, we made pink part of the uniform. And it looks pretty good! I nearly gave this a 10.

Jamie: The helmet is tremendous, the uniform less so.

Ryan: The helmets are stupidly good. I love them so much. I agree, the uniform is not quite as good.

Steeg: The chrome pink facemask too? God, it’s so good.

Will: I agree with Jamie. I think the uniform is a bit of a try-hard. Helmet, facemask and accessories alone would’ve been perfect .

Jamie: The helmet is amazing because it’s pink on white. Green and pink, gold and pink, nope.

Will: I already know #1 will make me upset.

#1
Average Rating: 9.4
Life Span: 2015 - 2016
USF’s Record in This Uniform: 5-0

Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Will: OH. Okay. I enjoy these a lot.

Ryan: This isn’t the divine uniform that #4 is, but it’s undoubtedly fantastic and a worthy champion.

Will: Yeah, it’s very, very clean. These might be number two all-time for me.

Nate: A beautifully classic and clean jersey and pant combo. God’s Helmet seals the deal. I waffled between #1 and #2 quite a bit. Either - or frankly, the whole top five - deserve to be first. Truly incredible.

Jamie: If you’re going to do all white, this is how to do it. It’s not too white, which is critical.

Steeg: The little details were right on these. The complimentary gold is just so good.

Jamie: It’s amazing - the years USF had this set were the years they were good at football.

Steeg: These are the definition of the golden years of USF football in the 2010s. They broke these bad boys out, and we became somewhat decent at football for a minute.

Ryan: The moral of this story is clear: USF must bring back God’s Helmet and make it permanent.