College Football’s Best Facial Hair

Rodriguez has recorded 74 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, one sack, a whopping seven forced fumbles, five pass deflections and three interceptions. He’s looked good doing it, too, sporting a traditional fireman-like mustache with short-hanging handlebars.

Rodriguez even has his own fan club, the “Jacob Rodriguez Mustache Collective,” who sports faux-handlebar mustaches at every Texas Tech home game in support of Rodriguez. The Red Raiders are 8-1 and making a hard-nosed run toward the Big 12 Conference title, with Rodriguez at the helm as defensive team captain. Should they continue their winning ways and Rodriguez continue his strong season, good things are ahead for both.

QB Sam Hartman, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Be honest with yourselves, former Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Sam Hartman is a gorgeous man. Glorious locks of long, dark brown hair, striking eyes, a chiseled jaw and a full, well-maintained beard to complement everything. Hartman has been widely regarded as the “hottest ever college football quarterback,” and it’s easy to see why. His fancy facial hair is a key aspect of his look.

How’d Hartman fare on the field? Hartman managed a 59.8 percent career completion rate, threw for 15,656 total yards, 134 touchdowns and 49 interceptions. Hartman played for six years with both Notre Dame and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. After a decent college career, Hartman tried his hand at the NFL. He was an undrafted free agent with the Washington Commanders in 2024 and has since been placed on the practice squad, where he has remained.

His looks have proven to be some of the sport’s all-time best, with his facial hair being a strong feature in said looks. After managing to carve out a solid football career as well, which seems to be slowing down, what could be next for Hartman? Perhaps a modeling or acting career is in his future?

The 2015 Bethel University Royals

This one is a bit of a deep pull, but in September 2015, the Division III Bethel University Royals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference went viral. Not for their play, not for any controversy, but for their facial hair and poses in the player headshots for that season.

The Royals decided to take things a bit less seriously than what most college programs do for their headshots, striking goofy poses and sporting some of the most bizarre facial hair you’ll see. Tight end Ben Price, who also played for Bethel’s hockey team (figures), sported perhaps the most bizarre looks of them all. Something you’d see only in Pirates of the Caribbean, Price wrapped the ends of his beard in Blackbeard-style braids, with a strong bushel of facial hair still presenting above. He then proceeded to dye the mustache portion of his hair jet black, only adding to the oddity.

He certainly wasn’t the only offender, though, as this was a planned thing by the entire Bethel team. Defensive end Steven Plocker said they decided on two themes among their position group: growing mustaches, dying them black and acting surprised in their pictures. The Salvador Dali look, if you will.

The Royals went 5-5 that season overall, with a 4-4 conference record. They won’t be remembered, though, for the football they played, but rather for this viral oddity they displayed.

The Movember Foundation

As stated in the opening, college football and facial hair have, oddly, quite a few things in common. The tradition, the passion and the variety of it all in both staples of the common man can’t help but be noticed.

Another way that these two compare is through providing positive community impact. You can point to many charitable missions and great moments of community within the bounds of college football’s history. The Kinnick Stadium Wave, Georgia Bulldogs fans coming out in support of coach Blake Anderson when his wife lost her fight with breast cancer, BYU Cougar fans raising money for a Texas Tech fan whose wife was critically injured by a drunk driver and many other instances of coming together within the bounds of college football can be pointed to.

You may ask yourself how facial hair provides a positive community impact. While the history behind the mustache in the firefighting profession and the many great figures who sported glorious beards and other facial follicle features can’t help but be appreciated, that’s not what we’re getting at here.

Rather, we’re talking about the Movember Foundation and “No Shave November.” The Movember Foundation was started in 2003 as an initiative to combat the shortcomings in men’s health. What better way to represent solidarity with improving men’s health than sporting one of the most masculine things you can sport? Every November, those participating are encouraged to grow out their facial hair and raise money for men’s health. Movember has brought over 6 million people to its cause and has raised over $1 billion since its founding. It has succeeded in developing men’s mental health awareness, promoting healthy lifestyles for men and being an advocate for building strong, capable and healthy male figures.

This movement best exemplifies how mustaches can be used for good. Community is one of the biggest aspects of life. Having a positive, healthy community around you best promotes prosperity both in self and within the community at large. As you can see, both those in the college football and the facial hair communities have shown they can provide a strong, positive impact on those in their respective communities and the wider communities they’re a part of. Who’s to say you can’t? Whether that be self-improvement or promoting self-improvement in others, you can make a difference and be a positive force in your respective communities, no matter how big or small.

Below is a link you can go to to donate to Movember. Even if it’s a smaller amount, every dollar matters towards making our community better. Part of bettering our communities is bettering men’s health. In the spirit of the season and knowing how strong the college football community can be when it comes together, let’s all do our part. As a mustache-sporting man myself who has a deep love for college football, combining those two communities’ powers can lead to incredible things, so let’s do something incredible!

Donate to Movember today.