Riddell Precision-Fit
Pat Friel Interview

HAMILTON – Colgate phased into the advanced world of football helmet technology with a recent visit from Riddell representatives sporting their new Precision-Fit engineering.
 
First-year Raiders Abu Daramy, Nick Diaco, Alex Mathews and Nick Wheeler were scanned and fitted for the latest in helmet technology. The goal of the new headgear is to improve fit, stability and vision inside the helmet as well as overall player protection.
 
The process uses 3D scanning techniques to build a completely custom-fitting helmet tailored to an individual player's head shape and size. A helmet precisely crafted to the unique shape of an athlete's head is properly fitted at all times without additional fitting adjustments, providing protection and performance benefits.
 
"Colgate has always been a big Riddell school, so it made sense that we stopped here and showed everybody our newest technology and newest innovation," said Riddell Product Manager Pat Friel '13.
 
Friel, an All-Patriot League linebacker during his Colgate playing days, was among the Riddell managers on hand to measure the four Colgate first-year footballers for their new equipment. These four student-athletes were selected because they still have a lot of football ahead of them.
 
"The technology is so new that it's an investment for the program," Friel said. "We encourage athletic directors, equipment managers and athletic trainers to get the most out of their investment and focus on the younger guys. It's a four-to-five-year helmet, so it just makes sense."
 
Former Raider Now CEO
The Raiders carry a long history with Riddell, both on the field and off. The company is led by former Colgate football standout Dan Arment '84, president and CEO of Riddell and its holding company, BRG Sports.
 
Jeff Hartung, Riddell's Regional Key Account Manager for Atlantic/Northeast, said NFL stars Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell of the Pittsburg Steelers, Carson Wentz and Jordan Hicks of the Philadelphia Eagles and Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins are among those being scanned for this helmet on the professional level.
 
"We have focused on key guys at both the college and pro levels who not only give us visibility but also are players who have had issues with fit or injury and may benefit from this new helmet," Hartung said. "This is usually the person who's always running around the locker room or on the field saying, 'Can you adjust this? Can you adjust this?'
 
"The technology helps equipment managers from a time standpoint and makes those players a lot happier."
 
Colgate Vice President and Director of Athletics Victoria M. Chun '91, MA'94 even took her turn and was fitted by Friel for her very own 'gate helmet.
 
"It is so important to us to have our student-athletes outfitted in the best, highly protective and most innovative equipment there is," said Chun, who serves on both the NCAA Division I Football Oversight and Football Competition Committees. "We are so appreciative to our dear friends at Riddell for allowing us this opportunity to ensure that happens.
 
"It was great for me to actually experience the process and get a sense of how this new technology really enhances the protection offered to football student-athletes."
 
First Time Back
For Friel, the return to Colgate was a happy homecoming. A Riddell product manager since graduation, Friel was the leading tackler on Colgate's 2012 Patriot League championship team that advanced to the NCAA playoffs.
 
The Illinois native lives in Chicago, not too far from his St. Charles hometown, and works out of the Riddell headquarters in suburban Rosemont.
 
"It's fantastic there," Friel said. "I love the game of football, so it's great to be that close to the game and have your hand on the products that you see every day on TV, and all the way down to the Pop Warner and high school levels.
 
"This is my first time back since graduating – my first time staying at the Colgate Inn," Friel said. "I feel grown-up now but I still have all of the memories of the dorms and being here in the Wooster Room for team meetings."
 
Friel stays in close contact with his former teammates and follows the Raiders every Saturday.
 
"Winning the Patriot League my senior year and going to the playoffs was a lot of fun," Friel said. "We had Coach Biddle and he's an icon. And Coach Hunt is great. He's filtering in some of those new school ideas of football but still very much keeping the old tradition of Colgate Football going."
 
All part of the "Precision-Fit" that defines Colgate Football and Riddell.
 
Riddell Precision-Fit Process
Step 1 – Student-athlete chooses a Riddell helmet platform: Riddell Speed or Riddell SpeedFlex.
Step 2 – Using a state-of-the-art scanning process, Riddell captures the detailed size and surface of the athlete's head.
Step 3 – 3D files are imported, analyzed, refined and precisely oriented to the athlete's specifications by Riddell's engineering team.
Step 4 – Player specific liner tools are generated.
Step 5 – The player's helmet liner system is precision-crafted using the individual's personalized molds, complete with player name and signature.
Step 6 – Once completed, the liner system is used to complete the player's Precision-Fit helmet – further customized with his choice of face mask, accessories and team decoration.
Step 7 – The completed Precision-Fit helmet is certified for and is shipped to the athlete and ready for competition.
 
Precision-Fit Helmets Provide:

• Personalized protection, with energy-managing materials that are contoured precisely to the athlete's head and have replaced traditional fitting components. Athlete protection is and always will be the top priority.
• Improved sightlines and maximized field vision, because an athlete is able to choose according to personal preference and fit, where the helmet is positioned.
• Customized helmet tracking, with padding molded and contoured to the athlete's head for a helmet that is constantly positioned and engineered to move when the athlete moves.
• Personalized comfort, with padding that precisely fits each athlete's unique head shape and size.