BOISE, Idaho — Armando Villarreal, an artist from Imperial, Nebraska, is bringing his hometown talent to Boise State football with a hand-painted helmet the team will wear against Appalachian State on Sept. 27. The “Front Porch of Idaho” helmet celebrates Boise’s landmarks and the state’s identity, wrapping a traditional blue helmet in white airbrushed designs accented with the school’s signature orange.
Villarreal, a former U.S. Army Reserve member deployed to Kosovo and Iraq, said his passion for art has been lifelong.
“I guess I was just born with it,” he said. “Even since the beginning, as far back as I can remember, I wanted to be an artist.” His father, a Dallas Cowboys fan, encouraged Villarreal’s early sketches, and he remembers drawing Cowboys logos and players with crayons as a child.
The helmet design features a galloping Bronco on one side, the Idaho State Capitol framed by Boise’s foothills on the other, and Albertsons Stadium with its famous blue turf on the back. The front bumper displays “208,” representing Idaho’s area code and the Capitol dome’s height. Villarreal said the project felt especially meaningful given his lifelong connection to horses. “My grandpa bought me a horse when I was a kid, and we named it Bronco,” he said. “So to paint a Bronco on this helmet, for a university known for the blue field, it felt like it was meant to be.”
Villarreal’s path to becoming a professional helmet artist was shaped by years of balancing his city job with his passion. “I’ve done hundreds of helmets over the years while working full time, but in 2022 I transitioned to being a full-time artist,” he said. “It’s exciting to have my name associated with a program like Boise State.” Each helmet undergoes a detailed process, including sanding, scuffing, and airbrushing, with each piece requiring a minimum of three hours to complete. Fulfilling a full order takes at least two months.
Villarreal has airbrushed helmets for 12 college programs, including BYU, Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee, UCF, and Utah. For the Boise State project, he said the challenge was combining landmarks into a cohesive design. “We put together a list of recognizable landmarks from Boise and Idaho and tried to make them flow and balance around the helmet,” he said. “The blue is such a pretty blue, and to be able to put my twist on it for such a program is just exciting.”
Boise State football, the only FBS program in the state, has been one of the nation’s most successful programs since 2000, with 262 wins and 27 straight winning seasons, the longest active streak in the country. The helmet design will also appear on t-shirts and be available at The Blue and Orange Store, Scheels, Fred Meyer locations, and online through Fanatics. Limited helmets will be available to Bronco Athletic Association members.