When Jim Harbaugh joined the Michigan Wolverines in 2015, one of the first changes he made was to implement the helmet stickers some teams have used across college football.
When Harbaugh initially unveiled the stickers, he explained what the criteria would be to add the decals to players’ helmets:
There’s different criteria, there’s team criteria for winning, everybody gets one, win a Big Ten game, everybody gets two,” he said when they were initially unveiled.
“Then there’s team turnover margin, unit stickers for defense, for offense and there’s individual awards that can be won.”
Since Harbaugh instated the stickers, their representation has changed.
The stickers, which initially spanned just one season, now roll over for a player’s entire career.
And while the Buckeyes’ stickers are uniform to indicate performance and wins, Michigan’s helmet stickers have different significance and meaning.
It’s a similar-but-different approach to something many teams across college football do, including Ohio State and Georgia.
The Wolverines use the stickers to showcase wins, letters and milestones.
Here’s a look at some of the stickers, their purpose, and what they mean.
The Wolverines’ decals are not a catch-all. There are different stickers for different achievements, and they all have a different significance.
They’re small, football-shaped stickers with writing on them to denote the achievement.
Here’s a look at some of the more notable ones:
These are just some of the more notable stickers, but there are plenty of others.
The complete list can be found in this M Victors blog post, which also has plenty of other Michigan history included.
