University Of Utah
1977 Utes
(Authentic Reproduction)
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If interested in any of these Utah helmets please click on the
photos below.
Long Beach State’s head man Wayne Howard would be called upon to lead Utah back
to a level of respectability. Howard’s path as a coach was a bit unusual since
he stepped into a head coaching position from his first day in the profession
and never served as an assistant. He made a number of stops but compiled an
impressive 122-46-3 record in the process, basing his philosophy on “a strong
defense…good kicking game and a consistent and mistake-free offense.” He played
football and baseball at California’s University Of Redlands, earned a master’s
degree at San Jose State and then posted an excellent winning record at San
Jose’s Lincoln High School. He turned around a poor Gavilan JC team and six
years later moved up to the University Of California Riverside and again
compiled a winning record from a previously losing squad. At Long Beach State he
inherited a team that had posted the worst record in the school’s history, took
them to 6-5 in 1974, and then 9-2 and 8-2 marks before moving on to Utah.
Despite sub-par facilities and the challenge of overcoming the worst three-year
record in Utes history, Howard was up to the challenge although his reputation
as a positive motivator would be needed with games against Oklahoma and Houston
in the season’s first two contests. Giving the team a new look, Howard placed
two one-inch white flanking stripes and a white mask on the Utes red shell while
maintaining the attractive U-and-feather decals. His 3-8 finish and with a
kicker and punter as the only two All WAC choices it would appear that Howard’s
first year offered little improvement over Lovat’s final performance but things
had begun to turn around. Smallish transfer quarterback Randy Gomez ranked tenth
in the nation in passing statistics with receiver Jack Steptoe again standing
out before playing with the Forty Niners in ’78. Frank Henry added another 622
reception yards. All WAC kicker Tom McNamara ascended from the walk-on ranks
while All Conference punter Rick Partridge transferred in from Tustin (CA) JC
and averaged forty-four yards per kick.
