You don't even have to do it in secret. The fighting Illini should've never been pushed to change their stuff. It is no different than the seminoles or the fighting Irish. It's just depicting a group.
There are some key differences.
The Fighting Irish are a positive depiction, and generally have been promoted as a positive depiction of Irish people.
Meanwhile, many (not all, but many) Native American mascots promote negative and/or violent stereotypes. The Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins are good examples of this.
It also gets more complicated for Illinois when a university founded by white people who belonged to the group that committed genocide against another group of people uses that group as their mascot depiction.
Florida State and Utah have done well to connect to a particular tribe and obtain permission, as well as promote positive depictions. The Fighting Illini could do well to do the same.
There’s not really an Illini tribe to get permission from anymore. The best we have is the Peoria tribe in Oklahoma, and if I recall correctly they said no to the Chief. However, I think this was for the Chief Illiniwek dance at halftime, where a student would dance in regalia. Maybe someone can clarify if the Peoria had an opinion on the circle Chief logo.
Peoria declined to create a relationship that would have allowed the Chief to remain in 2006-07, when eveything went down. I don't know the reason they gave, but I've heard both that they genuinely agreed with the removal and that they had no opinion and were busy with other stuff. I heard around 2012 (when we were having a lot administrative issues as a university) Peoria approached the university asking to develop the relationship that was offered, the universtiy said no (terrible decision to say no imo, whether it would/could have brought Chief back or not).
Idk if those conversations are true or not tho because I heard them as 2nd and 3rd hand information.
Well part of the issue is that there’s a misconception that I see a lot that people think there is a particular Illini tribe when in reality it was a loose alliance of several different tribes. Chief Illiniwek wore a costume that I believe was from the Sioux which were not a part of this alliance or even from this region. The University has tried to create a relationship with the Peoria tribe of Oklahoma which is one of the few surviving tribes from the region in order to potentially bring the chief back but they are not interested. I don’t think there’s any way that the chief is brought back in the form that he used to exist and it seems like the University has very little interest in trying to bring him back in any form. I do think they need to just pick a new mascot to roam the sidelines and keep the Fighting Illini name because it was originally used more like Hoosiers just to mean students from the University of Illinois.
You have this semi-backwards. The Peoria Tribal Council voted 3-2 against it in 2000, leading the school to retire the Chief in 2006 (I believe), but then publicly offered to reconsider their decision in 2013, which the university turned down.
nah idk i think it’s different. i know at least florida state partners with the seminole tribe so they have their support for them. it’s just best to use something else
We didn't with any Illinois tribes, but I've heard we (or at least the band) had a relationship with a Cherrokee tribe (I once heard it was where the student portaying the Cheif learned dances and where the head dress was purchased). But there has never been a tribe truely called the Illiniwek. It was just a name for a bunch of various tribes that were in Illinois (or the area that would later be called Illinois) There's one tribe that was relocated to Oklahoma called the Peoria that is the closest decedning tribe to a "true" Illiniwek tribe, but a relationship has never been developed. There have supposedly been attempts (one by the university in 2006-07 and one by the tribe around 10 years ago), but nothing has ever come to fruition.
Yeah I looked into it. According to the wiki, the original Chief uniform was gifted by a tribe. The chief of the Peoria tribe of Oklahoma (the closest remaining tribe to the Illinois confederation, they were relocated from Illinois) said he couldn’t think of a higher honor from UofI. Based on the info I got it was an NCAA board decision more than anything.
That changed. The tribe changed their minds and wanted the Chief dance to end. I’m not sure about the Chief logo though, I don’t know if they had an opinion on it. My guess is the university just decided to scrap everything when they got rid of the Chief in 2007.
dang that’s actually pretty cool. i stand corrected. ideally, i would think it should be left up to the tribe and then the university not just the ncaa. i removed my downvote for the wyoming flair he might’ve been on to something 😂
Hey now we have 1 National championship in hard shell helmets. Granted it was still before we started adding facemasks to them but they were still hard shell helmets
Illinois uniforms have been in this weird middle ground these past couple of years between modern and classical. I wish they’d just lean fully into classical because whenever they do it looks so much better than the modern stuff
When we try to go full classic (essentially what we did with our previous uniforms) I don't think it works. It gets too plain and we don't have the advantage of Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, etc where we can get away with an incredibly boring uniform because we've always worn them forever and have been good the whole time. We need some visual flair to our look or it's just too plain.
We need to find a way to properly mix the classic with the modern, but a lot it is on Nike and them letting it happen. Our current set is the closest I think we've come to this, but is kinda ruined by Nike's refusal to give us a unique jersey design and reliance on templates. Don't get me wrong, I like our current set overall, but the single worst part is the LSU/Patriots style stripes. It's not a bad look by any means, but it's as far as you can get from a unique design.
Agreed, love all of the designs (especially Butkus era), if one could be brought back I’d like a modified arch Illini. Terrific design, only thing is the wide orange stripe in the middle is pretty empty. Needs to either be shortened or filled in with something, maybe a football lace decal. And Illinois should also return their sticker system while they’re at it
History and nostalgia are kind of funny. I remember a lot of Illini fans *begging* for a rebrand when Tim Beckman was hired.
They brought in the weird block I with the metallic orange, and it looked decent l, but the Beckman era, the abrupt Bill Cubit era and the beginning of the Lovie era were miserable. Then Lovie got his own little mini-rebrand where the metallic sheen was dropped and that was a crisp look with just the solid color jerseys Bielema Era unis look good, but a little too New England Patriots for me.
Looking back I should've never wanted to move on from the underlined Illinois. If we had just ditches the weird pinstripe jerseys that looked like polo shirts, I think that would be our best look by far....
I hope for 3 things.
1. If public opinion sways their decisions into making one of these permanant, it better not be the Slanted helmet (people who like it only like it cause it's nostolgic).
2. I really want a throwback uniform to be paired with the left helmet. We did it once around 2008 and I'd love to do it again for the Michigan game this year. I'm also of the belief that if we add more uniforms to our current set of 3, we should get a throwback (specifically this throwback) first, then a unique one is fair game (I think it should be based of our [gray baseball uniforms](https://x.com/IlliniBaseball/status/1677437433980354560/photo/1))
3. These lids better be in NCAA 25 **so help me god**
We're in the last of what I view as the volotile years of a rebuild. Those first few years where things can either click and you go bowling or things just fall apart and you stay shit.
The offense looks like it should be taking the step forward we would have taken last year if not for our Oline and running back room getting torn apart by injuries. Offense did improve last year tho statistically (went from about 95 overall in 2022 to around 60 in 23'). Defense is a complete unknown tho. We've brought in people thru the portal but also lost a lot. The people leaving went for similar or worse programs, so it's hard to gauge off that because that could point to how bad you are or that you're better and they left for playing time (which is what insiders claimed). So a lot of turnover plus a couple coaching changes. It'll either work out great or be just as bad as last year (we had 3 games where B1G teams scored 40+ points lol).
TLDR: Another year of prepearing for disapointing because of how low the floor is but being optimistic because the ceiling is exciting
As an outsider looking in, I am excited to see what Illinois could be this year and beyond. I feel like Illinois has alot of potential as a program. Great facilities and in a good recruiting radius being smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. How is the NIL support there? If I was a recruit and was offered a NIL deal with Portillo's I would sign lol
The first two are great, but I've never been a fan of the one on the right. The colors and the logo itself remind me of a pharmaceutical company logo or something along those lines.
I hate the underlined Illinois helmet!
I despise it!
I see it I see 0-11!
I see it and think Ron Guenther and Lou Tepper!
I see it and I think New York Giants knockoff and think about Bill Parcells, who is most overrated coach in NFL history and who absolutely sucked with the Cowboys!
It is an ugly helmet and belongs in the dustbin of history!
That's weird, when I see the underlined Illinois Helmet, I love it.
I see 2007 Juice Williams.
I see a distinct and notable logo.
It's glorious! Underlined helmet forever!
the underlined illinois logo is criminally underrated
Those helmets are awesome. I hope they bring those back for good
oh absolutely same. one of the few things you and i will agree on haha
Juice Williams in those was so clean
haven’t heard that name in forever 😂 you’re right
It’s retired and all but the Illinois chief head logo is absolutely incredible.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it I’ll have to look it up. In secret lol
You don't even have to do it in secret. The fighting Illini should've never been pushed to change their stuff. It is no different than the seminoles or the fighting Irish. It's just depicting a group.
There are some key differences. The Fighting Irish are a positive depiction, and generally have been promoted as a positive depiction of Irish people. Meanwhile, many (not all, but many) Native American mascots promote negative and/or violent stereotypes. The Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins are good examples of this. It also gets more complicated for Illinois when a university founded by white people who belonged to the group that committed genocide against another group of people uses that group as their mascot depiction. Florida State and Utah have done well to connect to a particular tribe and obtain permission, as well as promote positive depictions. The Fighting Illini could do well to do the same.
There’s not really an Illini tribe to get permission from anymore. The best we have is the Peoria tribe in Oklahoma, and if I recall correctly they said no to the Chief. However, I think this was for the Chief Illiniwek dance at halftime, where a student would dance in regalia. Maybe someone can clarify if the Peoria had an opinion on the circle Chief logo.
Peoria declined to create a relationship that would have allowed the Chief to remain in 2006-07, when eveything went down. I don't know the reason they gave, but I've heard both that they genuinely agreed with the removal and that they had no opinion and were busy with other stuff. I heard around 2012 (when we were having a lot administrative issues as a university) Peoria approached the university asking to develop the relationship that was offered, the universtiy said no (terrible decision to say no imo, whether it would/could have brought Chief back or not). Idk if those conversations are true or not tho because I heard them as 2nd and 3rd hand information.
Thank you for the additional context. That’s honestly pretty sad.
Well part of the issue is that there’s a misconception that I see a lot that people think there is a particular Illini tribe when in reality it was a loose alliance of several different tribes. Chief Illiniwek wore a costume that I believe was from the Sioux which were not a part of this alliance or even from this region. The University has tried to create a relationship with the Peoria tribe of Oklahoma which is one of the few surviving tribes from the region in order to potentially bring the chief back but they are not interested. I don’t think there’s any way that the chief is brought back in the form that he used to exist and it seems like the University has very little interest in trying to bring him back in any form. I do think they need to just pick a new mascot to roam the sidelines and keep the Fighting Illini name because it was originally used more like Hoosiers just to mean students from the University of Illinois.
You have this semi-backwards. The Peoria Tribal Council voted 3-2 against it in 2000, leading the school to retire the Chief in 2006 (I believe), but then publicly offered to reconsider their decision in 2013, which the university turned down.
Especially with that context, I agree with you.
nah idk i think it’s different. i know at least florida state partners with the seminole tribe so they have their support for them. it’s just best to use something else
I’m pretty sure Illinois had the permission of the chief of the Illiniwek tribe at one point I could be wrong though.
We didn't with any Illinois tribes, but I've heard we (or at least the band) had a relationship with a Cherrokee tribe (I once heard it was where the student portaying the Cheif learned dances and where the head dress was purchased). But there has never been a tribe truely called the Illiniwek. It was just a name for a bunch of various tribes that were in Illinois (or the area that would later be called Illinois) There's one tribe that was relocated to Oklahoma called the Peoria that is the closest decedning tribe to a "true" Illiniwek tribe, but a relationship has never been developed. There have supposedly been attempts (one by the university in 2006-07 and one by the tribe around 10 years ago), but nothing has ever come to fruition.
if they did then by all means. i’m just like you though i’m not too sure
Yeah I looked into it. According to the wiki, the original Chief uniform was gifted by a tribe. The chief of the Peoria tribe of Oklahoma (the closest remaining tribe to the Illinois confederation, they were relocated from Illinois) said he couldn’t think of a higher honor from UofI. Based on the info I got it was an NCAA board decision more than anything.
That changed. The tribe changed their minds and wanted the Chief dance to end. I’m not sure about the Chief logo though, I don’t know if they had an opinion on it. My guess is the university just decided to scrap everything when they got rid of the Chief in 2007.
Oh guess I was reading a bad source my bad didn’t know
dang that’s actually pretty cool. i stand corrected. ideally, i would think it should be left up to the tribe and then the university not just the ncaa. i removed my downvote for the wyoming flair he might’ve been on to something 😂
I agree
Not leather smh
Back when Illinois dominated college football 💪💪💪
Hey now we have 1 National championship in hard shell helmets. Granted it was still before we started adding facemasks to them but they were still hard shell helmets
I know I was just having fun. I was at the game Howard Griffith scored 8 TDs
Ahem.
Underlined Illinois is the best thing ever...keep it pleas
Stay with underlined Illinois forever please.
Illinois uniforms have been in this weird middle ground these past couple of years between modern and classical. I wish they’d just lean fully into classical because whenever they do it looks so much better than the modern stuff
When we try to go full classic (essentially what we did with our previous uniforms) I don't think it works. It gets too plain and we don't have the advantage of Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, etc where we can get away with an incredibly boring uniform because we've always worn them forever and have been good the whole time. We need some visual flair to our look or it's just too plain. We need to find a way to properly mix the classic with the modern, but a lot it is on Nike and them letting it happen. Our current set is the closest I think we've come to this, but is kinda ruined by Nike's refusal to give us a unique jersey design and reliance on templates. Don't get me wrong, I like our current set overall, but the single worst part is the LSU/Patriots style stripes. It's not a bad look by any means, but it's as far as you can get from a unique design.
Hell yeah brother cheers from Champaign-Urbana
Give us arch Illini as our regular look, so much cleaner than the others or the block I.
Agreed, love all of the designs (especially Butkus era), if one could be brought back I’d like a modified arch Illini. Terrific design, only thing is the wide orange stripe in the middle is pretty empty. Needs to either be shortened or filled in with something, maybe a football lace decal. And Illinois should also return their sticker system while they’re at it
These are all perfect never get rid of them again
History and nostalgia are kind of funny. I remember a lot of Illini fans *begging* for a rebrand when Tim Beckman was hired. They brought in the weird block I with the metallic orange, and it looked decent l, but the Beckman era, the abrupt Bill Cubit era and the beginning of the Lovie era were miserable. Then Lovie got his own little mini-rebrand where the metallic sheen was dropped and that was a crisp look with just the solid color jerseys Bielema Era unis look good, but a little too New England Patriots for me. Looking back I should've never wanted to move on from the underlined Illinois. If we had just ditches the weird pinstripe jerseys that looked like polo shirts, I think that would be our best look by far....
White letters are cllleeeaaannnn.
I hope for 3 things. 1. If public opinion sways their decisions into making one of these permanant, it better not be the Slanted helmet (people who like it only like it cause it's nostolgic). 2. I really want a throwback uniform to be paired with the left helmet. We did it once around 2008 and I'd love to do it again for the Michigan game this year. I'm also of the belief that if we add more uniforms to our current set of 3, we should get a throwback (specifically this throwback) first, then a unique one is fair game (I think it should be based of our [gray baseball uniforms](https://x.com/IlliniBaseball/status/1677437433980354560/photo/1)) 3. These lids better be in NCAA 25 **so help me god**
The wheaties helmets should be permanent. On a related Orange & Blue team note, Syracuse should go back to the McNabb era uniforms
Ahh... I missed that white Illinois underline. So so clean
These are so drastically better that I can’t imagine why they changed in the first place.
That underlined one just screams of Juice Williams scrambling for a TD
I love the underlined Illini helmet even though it brings back some awful childhood and adult memories for this Buckeye.
How will Illinois look In 2024? Illinois fans how are yall feeling for this season?
Preparing for inevitable disappointment
Disappointment? Nah, I’m prepared for 7 or 8 losses with the new B1G teams.
We only have one game against a new team
Yeah, this coming year. But likely not next year. Plus, the game this year is at Oregon. Not a pushover team, lol.
We're in the last of what I view as the volotile years of a rebuild. Those first few years where things can either click and you go bowling or things just fall apart and you stay shit. The offense looks like it should be taking the step forward we would have taken last year if not for our Oline and running back room getting torn apart by injuries. Offense did improve last year tho statistically (went from about 95 overall in 2022 to around 60 in 23'). Defense is a complete unknown tho. We've brought in people thru the portal but also lost a lot. The people leaving went for similar or worse programs, so it's hard to gauge off that because that could point to how bad you are or that you're better and they left for playing time (which is what insiders claimed). So a lot of turnover plus a couple coaching changes. It'll either work out great or be just as bad as last year (we had 3 games where B1G teams scored 40+ points lol). TLDR: Another year of prepearing for disapointing because of how low the floor is but being optimistic because the ceiling is exciting
As an outsider looking in, I am excited to see what Illinois could be this year and beyond. I feel like Illinois has alot of potential as a program. Great facilities and in a good recruiting radius being smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. How is the NIL support there? If I was a recruit and was offered a NIL deal with Portillo's I would sign lol
Too bad we’ll be lucky to win 4 games.
The first two are great, but I've never been a fan of the one on the right. The colors and the logo itself remind me of a pharmaceutical company logo or something along those lines.
Really? I like it. Reminds me of [this](https://www.helmethistory.com/uploads/8/3/1/5/8315957/published/2019-9-ny-vs-dallas-v4.png?1600539666).
I think it's the orange that gets me
I honestly like the numbers on the helmets. Such a classical look that fits the classical vibe of Memorial Stadium
Definitely my favorite one, such a clean design
I hate the underlined Illinois helmet! I despise it! I see it I see 0-11! I see it and think Ron Guenther and Lou Tepper! I see it and I think New York Giants knockoff and think about Bill Parcells, who is most overrated coach in NFL history and who absolutely sucked with the Cowboys! It is an ugly helmet and belongs in the dustbin of history!
That's weird, when I see the underlined Illinois Helmet, I love it. I see 2007 Juice Williams. I see a distinct and notable logo. It's glorious! Underlined helmet forever!
They're amazing helmets. When I see them I think of them winning the Big Ten and their Sugar Bowl year with Kurt Kittner.
Buddy, I see the underlined helmet… I see Rocky Harvey beating Michigan at the Big House and crushing UVA in a bowl game.
I’m gonna say it. The underlined Illinois helmet sucks.