Return Of The Script

The Spring 2023 issue of ONE MARYLAND Magazine will soon arrive in the mailboxes of Terrapin Club members. ONE MARYLAND features stories of strength and perseverance, of determination and spirit. These stories define our athletics program, and this new magazine will allow us to share these stories with you. Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out these stories on umterps.com as a preview of what you will find in ONE MARYLAND. To receive future issues of the magazine when they debut, please join the Terrapin Club. We hope you enjoy.

There have been letters and numbers; terrapins of all types; the outline of Fort McHenry; flags in various shapes; flags in monochrome and in the full, glorious colors of the state flag.

There have been all manner of designs on Maryland football helmets through the years. 

But the one that longtime Terps fans keep coming back to is the iconic “Script Terps.”

In fact, the university announced that it will be bringing back the Script Terps on helmets and the accompanying retro-look uniform on a regular basis for the 2023 season. Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics Damon Evans and Head Coach Michael Locksley are paying homage to a tradition that dates back to 1982 – a transformational year in Maryland football history that included a new coach and an infusion of excitement into the program.

Here’s the never-been told story about the history of Script Terps.

New Coach, New Energy

Following a 4-6-1 season in 1981, Jerry Claiborne left Maryland to take the head coaching position at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky.

Replacing Claiborne for the 1982 season was Bobby Ross. He spent time as a head coach at The Citadel, but came to College Park directly after four seasons as an assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Sometimes change is good,” said Ross. “Jerry Claiborne was an outstanding coach and a Hall of Famer who had an outstanding career.

“We wanted to get some new tradition in the form of a uniform and establish something. At first, we were going to redesign the whole uniform. I was going to put this in the hands of the students. Who it came from, I’m not certain.

“I don’t know to what extent it had an effect,” said Ross. “It probably had a new feeling to it.”

Ross also brought in a pro-style offense that season, adding to the new feeling. With Boomer Esiason leading a talented and full quarterback room, the 1982 Terps went 8-4, averaged more than 31 points per game and reached the Aloha Bowl.

“What was special then was Coach Ross,” said kicker Jess Atkinson. “The Terps helmet and uniforms wound up being a reflection of the excitement in the program. Those things were all a piece of that. It wasn’t the logo that created the excitement, it was Coach Ross and his staff.

“Instantly, when Coach Ross came in, the whole world opened up for us. Suddenly we had a pro-style offense, and we were going to sling it around. That season energized everyone.”

Designer Players

Three players’ names come up most often when asking about the design of what Ross called “headgear,” in an old-school reference. 

Tight end Ron Fazio and linebackers Doug Cox and Pat D’Atri are the players who are credited most often with the then-new Script Terps – though no one specifically remembers which player had the winning design.

“The old uniforms were kind of disconnected, where you had the white helmets with the black and gold stripe down the middle,” said Fazio. “Looking back now, I kind of respect certain teams like Alabama, Ohio State and Penn State where they don’t change... that’s their iconic look.

“So when Coach Ross came in, that’s what it was. As soon as he said we’re going to change the uniforms and I want your ideas, a few of us took that and started to get to work. I remember creating pages full of helmets just to throw out there.

“I remember talking it over with Doug,” said Fazio. “I think we had a few of the same thoughts. I’m not going to say that it might have been mine, but I think we both had a very similar design to what was chosen.

“It’s kind of interesting how now we call it Script Terps. Back then it was just our helmet. But now it has a name and that’s kind of cool. To have a little bit of legacy there and being involved with that, I feel honored to have had that opportunity.”

Cox also remembers the design process.

“We all drew our ideas and turned them in,” said Cox. “We never received anything back other than what the design would be. It wasn’t like they came back and said, ‘Doug, we chose yours.’ Although I know what I turned in and it was very reminiscent of that.”

There were versions that included the four colors of the state flag, reminiscent of designs in later years, according to Cox.

“We’re fortunate in a sense that we have four colors,” said the linebacker who majored in applied design. “Most schools have black and white as sort of a base. But we also have red and gold.

“It has been used in more modern times with the uniform and some very creative ways. 

“I think at the time, the script really stuck to me more than block letters,” said Cox. “Not that I don’t like them. Our current ‘M’ bar logo, I really like. I like the flag motif underneath. I applaud everybody who’s done some of those things.

“But from my standpoint, I wanted something that was unique and easily identifiable as the University of Maryland without even saying the University of Maryland. So the ‘Terps’ stuck with me.”

D’Atri, who passed away suddenly in 2009, was an artist and owned his own design firm in Cumberland. His artistic work included logos for schools and businesses in the Cumberland area, notably restaurants there that his family is known for.

There is a reference in a newspaper story that linked D’Atri, a design major at Maryland, to the Terps new helmet.

“Someone asked me if Pat had designed the latest Maryland Terrapin logo for the school’s athletic department,” sports editor Mike Burke wrote in the Cumberland Times in July 2009. “I can find no evidence that he did, and it’s not as though Pat would have told anybody if he had. But the logo is so well done and commands your attention and your pride so much that he probably did design it.”

Cox remembered some collaboration with his fellow linebacker.

“We were both linebackers, so we had our conversations and interactions,” said Cox. “He was another super guy... really, really talented. Pat and I never really compared notes on who actually did the eventual design.”

The new design was met with approval from the team's rising star at quarterback, a player by the name of Norman "Boomer" Esiason. 

'The Script Terps helmet is the prettiest helmet in all of college football," said Esaison, who has a helmet permanently as part of the set on his 'Boomer and Gio Show' daily. "It is the signature look of Maryland. When Coach Ross came in, we wanted a new look. I actually went and had custom red hats made, with "Terps" in script on them and we wore them all over campus. Pat D'Atri came up with the helmet concept and it came to life. We are the only Terps in all of sports.

Kevin Glover, an offensive lineman on the ’82 team, said the players were involved in nearly every step.

“As a team, we talked about it and asked Coach Ross if we could change the uniforms and helmets,” said Glover. “He suggested we come up with something.

“We had a new era, a new head coach and an opportunity to freshen things up. It was great.”

“I think Coach Ross initiated the excitement,” said Cox. “I remember before he was hired we knew we were going to be getting a new coach. There was a lot of trepidation from everybody. 

“Are we going to like him? If you’re close to graduation what do you do? Is he going to just put all his attention on the young guys? You know, people didn’t really transfer back then.

“But I think he captured everybody’s hearts, focus and attention on day one. I think everybody walked out of that first meeting saying, ‘OK, this is going to be good.’"

Tale of the Tail

When the new helmets appeared in public for the first time in the 1982 football media guide, they included a swooping underline coming from the ‘S’ in Terps – a “tail” of sorts.

But that fall, when Maryland took the field, the tail had been removed from underneath the Terps script.

No one interviewed for this story has a definitive idea where the tail went or why it was eliminated. Speculation centers around the potential difficulty of preparing and mounting the design either into the surface of the helmet or onto a decal.

“One of our initial designs had the swoosh coming off the end of the ‘S,’ which was in the original marketing materials,” said Cox. “For whatever reason, it never showed up on the helmets we played in.

“This is just a supposition, but maybe it was difficult to manufacture or more complex, or maybe even too difficult to apply them. They may have suggested, this is kind of big, maybe we need to truncate it somehow.”

It remains a mystery.

What’s Old is New Again

Following Ross, there were 14 years that yielded two winning seasons and one bowl appearance. So when Ralph Friedgen got the job as Maryland’s new head coach in 2001, the former offensive coordinator for Ross brought back the design... sort of.

The script was the same, but it included red letters on a white background instead of white letters on a red helmet.

“I kind of liked it better, to tell the truth,” said Friedgen. “Ronnie (Ohringer, then equipment manager for football) brought in about 20 helmets and I chose. I wanted something to be my own.”

Friedgen appreciates the return to the design of the past.

“I think every school should have a recognizable logo,” he said. “There are no other Terps in the universe. People needed to know what Maryland Football is all about.

“Terps says who we are. Bobby had the red helmet, I had the white. But I think that says who Maryland is. I think it should be a major emblem for all the teams.

“When you see Terps, you know who we are. There are a thousand M’s. But there’s only one Terps.”

There may indeed be some magic to the Script Terps helmet. In the 15 seasons they’ve been worn full time – five under Ross (1982-1986) and 10 under Friedgen (2001-2010), Maryland played in 11 bowl games. Maryland played in 18 bowls in its other 68 seasons.

Full Circle

The return to the iconic look was announced on April 17, 2023, Evans:

“I’m very excited to announce that we are moving back to an iconic uniform, a classic look, something that our fans have been clamoring for for quite some time.

“When I think about our illustrious past as it relates to Maryland football, you think about Bobby Ross and Ralph Friedgen and the championship years wearing the Script Terps uniform. This Script Terps uniform embodies who we are, it symbolizes what it means to be a Maryland football player.

“I know our head coach Michael Locksley, someone who grew up in this area, in the DMV, worshiped the Terps in that uniform. Now it’s time for us to pay that homage and push forward, so I’m happy to bring back this iconic look. Terp Nation, here we come. Here it is.”

Esiason and his fellow Terp alums are excited about the return of the Script Terps. 

"I can tell you Mike Locksley is a man of his word. He agreed that we have a proud history and the players love the helmet and uniform. He told me we would bring it back," said Esiason. "He grew up loving Maryland football when they were wearing that helmet, I know how much it means to him too.

"I am so proud of that uniform and I am so glad we are finally wearing the most beautiful helmet in all of college football. That's our history, you can never change history. I have talked to Stan Gelbaugh and Frank Reich and they are pumped about it, we all love it."