Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, September 12, 2012

Illinois Helmet Stickers
Illinois Athletics

First-year Illinois head coach Tim Beckman was an Ohio State assistant from 2005-06, so it should come as no surprise he's a fan of helmet stickers. The Buckeyes, of course, reward players with Buckeye stickers that go on their helmets. This season, the Illini are passing out helmet stickers of their own.

[Related: Illinois adds state of Illinois to midfield logo]

The stickers, in the shape of the state of Illinois, come in two colors: Blue and white.  The blue decals reward on-field performance and go on the left side of the helmet, while the white ones honor off-field work and are placed on the right side.

You can see the stickers on the back of Kenny Nelson's helmet in the picture above.

[Related: Illinois debuts new blue facemask]

Helmet stickers are nothing new for Illinois. The program wore them in the 1980s during the Mike White era. Here's the proof. Yes, that's Jack Trudeau in the 1984 Rose Bowl, in case you couldn't tell from the HUGE shoulder patches.

h/t @MarkTupper

BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina covers football and men's basketball for BTN.com. He writes the popular uniform feature "Clothes Call," which also focuses on the latest cosmetic changes across Big Ten arenas and stadiums. Read all of his work here. You can subscribe to Yarina's RSS feed and follow him on Twitter @BTNBrentYarina.