Colorado

1979 - 80 Buffaloes
(Authentic Reproduction)
 

For 133 days, Colorado did not have a head football coach. When AD Eddie Crowder wanted to fire Bill Mallory at the end of the 1978 season, he had his former coach and mentor Bud Wilkinson in mind as a replacement as Bud had hinted he would come back to coaching and he did, but as head man of the St. Louis Cardinals. With a number of suitors, including Nebraska's unappreciated Tom Osborne, Crowder came to contract with Chuck Fairbanks, the former head man of Oklahoma who had set that juggernaut in motion before taking the New England Patriot head job. Fairbanks turned the Pats around but wanted out and back into the college ranks. The legal-wrangling went on for months with threats and unsavory behavior on both sides until a buy out with the Patriots was agreed to and Fairbanks was free to coach the Buffs. Saddled with a poor group of lettermen and without much recruiting due to the legal hassles, 3-8 was not totally unexpected despite Fairbanks' "back-to-basics" attitude. Part of that back-to-basics included a new helmet design that was a plain gold shell with a black facemask. OT Stan Brock finished his career well as an All American and then went to the Saints as a number one pick and a lengthy NFL career. DB Mark Haynes was also All American and had good seasons with the Giants and Broncos, a four-time All Pro. The bottom fell out in 1980, the defense gave up a startling 451 points including eighty-two to OU and it was left to transfer QB Randy Essington to fire up the offense with FB Willie Beebe, Walter Stanley, and Derek Singleton trying but failing to spark much of an attack. The fans and boosters were willing to concede that Fairbanks had yet to play his own recruits and thus remained optimistic.

If interested in any of these Colorado helmets please click on the photos below.