A schoolteacher and coach in Missouri created a website where he has been collecting pictures of the football helmets used by all 351 high schools in Missouri. As a side project during the summer months, the coach has expanded his photo collection geographically—naming Morgan Hill’s Live Oak Acorns among the nation’s most uncommon mascots.
The project started in 2020 and has recently caught significant attention.
The coach (whose name is not listed on the website) states the goal was to have one central location for all Missouri High School football helmets. He adds that he enjoys helping other coaches come up with possible helmet designs for future seasons or bring their own ideas to life.
“I enjoy the aesthetics of football, and I wanted to have a place to spotlight programs, coaches, players and communities all over the state,” he said. “My goal is to have the current helmet designs for all 351 MOHSFB teams as well as some throwbacks and some concepts just for fun.”
During the quiet period in early July, this coach expanded his helmet interest beyond the Missouri state lines. He posted on X (formerly Twitter) his list of the 20 “most unique” high school football mascots in the entire country. He included pictures of the helmets and some information on how the team nicknames came to be.
Look who is on the list: the Live Oak Acorns of Morgan Hill!
Here is the coach’s writeup on Live Oak:
“Next up: the Live Oak (CA) Acorns! The area is known for oak trees, so Acorns was a pretty obvious choice! The school recently started using the battle cry, ‘GO NUTS!’ which is just outstanding.”
And who are the other 19?
Here is the full list, in the order he posted them: Cary NC Imps; Centralia IL Orphans; Chinook MT Sugarbeeters; Fisher IL Bunnies; Mars Area PA Fightin’ Planets; Poca WV Dots; Hoopeston IL Cornjerkers; Brewer MA Witches; Freeport IL Pretzels; New Braunfels TX Unicorns; Ozark AR Hillbillies; Hickman MO Kewpies; Yuma AZ Criminals; Orofino ID Maniacs; Hereford TX Whitefaces; Freeburg IL Midgets; Frankfort IN Hot Dogs; Cuero TX Gobblers; Live Oak CA Acorns; Rhinelander WI Hodags.
Check out the pictures of the helmets, complete with short descriptions, at the following link: x.com/HelmetMissouri/status/1940573978407719151
