Burns was seeking a turnaround season and introduced a new helmet design. The Green Bay gold shell had a new stripe arrangement that was very attractive. Flanking a one-third-inch Green Bay gold center stripe were one-third-inch black stripes and these were then flanked by one-half-inch white stripes. On each side of the helmet was a new Iowa logo, a white circle with a black border that held a block “I” that was black, bordered in Green Bay gold. Burns moved the player numerals to the rear of the helmet, using black two-inch thin “NCAA” style numerals. Unfortunately, the new helmets looked terrific but the team did not. Mistakes, turnovers, and penalties ran rampant and weaknesses in the overall program were evident. Iowa could offer only thirty scholarships per year compared to the forty-five of the other Big Ten schools and there was little money for recruiting. Kicker Bob Anderson was the top scorer in this horrible 1-9 season although a few players had good seasons. DE Dave Long was perhaps the only defensive standout, named to some All American teams and then had a six-year NFL career with the Cardinals and Saints on the D-line. Guard John Niland was a bona fide All American and a first-round pick of the Cowboys with whom he spent nine of his ten NFL seasons. Captain Karl Noonan played six seasons with the early Dolphins, and QB Gary Snook often found Noonan despite double-coverage, with pinpoint passes. The leading rusher was soph RB Silas McKinnie who looked as if he had promise but it would not be fulfilled with Jerry Burns as coach. Burns and his entire staff were released four days prior to the final game against NC State. Burns hooked on with the Packers for two seasons and then became Bud Grant's long-time offensive coordinator with the Vikings before becoming their head coach. He is perhaps best remembered for his rather infamous post-game press conference while with the Vikings, where he defended his offensive coordinator Bob Schnelker in a profanity-laced tirade.

(John Niland game helmet)

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