The ebullient Lee Corso had been the leader of the mid-'50's Florida State teams and a highly respected assistant coach at Florida State, Maryland, and Navy before turning the program at Louisville around with his flamboyant style. He updated the helmets immediately, switching from the crimson shell to a brighter scarlet shade of red festooned with a one-inch red center stripe, and 3/4" white and then 3/4" black flanking stripes. The white block I on the sides of the helmet was trimmed in black for a "louder" and more noticeable look. As expected, the offense immediately improved and averaged a bit over thirty points per game with Willie Jones at the helm and Ken Starling as the primary rusher. Barzilauskas finished a solid career at DT and became the Jets first draft choice, completing a five year pro career with the Jets and Packers. Corso's initial 2-9 record matched the "usual" IU tallies but it was hoped he could move them to the upper level of the Big 10. The rushing of QB Jones and RB Courtney Snyder was augmented by the receiving skills of Trent Smock who also played Hoosier hoops. Donnie Thomas was a decent LB and Malverne (N.Y.) H.S. standout Bill Jones, coached by Helmet Hut staff, added heft to the D-line. The Corso flair was obvious when the Hoosiers came onto the field to face Purdue in the '74 finale dressed in red shoes, a scarlet helmet with a block I on the sides, and "Beat Purdue" emblazoned across their jerseys. Unfortunately, the talent level produced a 1-10 slate and a 38-17 hammering by the Boilermakers. 1975 had Courtney Snyder chewing up big yardage, fine receiving by Smock, and impressive defensive play by LB Thomas but QB was unsettled and the slight improvement to 2-8-1 was perhaps more appreciated by fans as they played a number of quality opponents close but everyone wanted win-loss progress.

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