Missouri

1956 Tigers
(Authentic Reproduction)
 

Before the ’56 season began, Faurot announced that his nineteenth version of the Tiger eleven would be his final squad and he dressed up the uniforms for the occasion. The Tigers helmets were still black and to the one-inch old gold center stripe, Faurot had added white one-inch flanking stripes, leaving a one-inch gap of black between the applied striping. The slow 0-3 start scuttled any chance for going out on a high note but only a controversial loss to Nebraska and tie against Colorado kept Mizzou from a decent season. A safety on the game’s final play beat hated Kansas 15-13. Jim Hunter’s All Conference play was the individual highlight of a difficult 4-5-1 season but Faurot maintained his reputation as one of the game’s all-time greats. Even as Missouri’s Athletic Director, his love of working with young people found him coaching the defense in the Blue-Gray post-season classic until 1994 when he was eighty-five years of age. His coaching success and the development of the Split-T Formation gave him entry to The College Football Hall Of Fame. As importantly, he inspired tremendous pride within the state of Missouri, fielding teams that were almost exclusively built upon in-state players and never cutting a candidate from the team. His 163-93-13 record was exemplary and Missouri’s football stadium was named in his honor in 1972.      

If interested in any of these Mizzou helmets please click on the photos below.