USF Athletics

USF Is First Team to Use Schutt's High-Tech Helmets

October 29, 2019

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, OCT. 29, 2019 – Through a strong partnership with Schutt Sports, the Bulls are blazing a high-tech trail that will allow football players around the country to wear helmets that fit as perfectly as possible.

Starting last week, the Bulls became the first program in the nation to start using Schutt's new UR1 model, which is specifically fitted to meet the unique size needs of individuals through pressure mapping.

"Because the relationship, we're able to be the first ones to do it and to have 17 players in it right away, that's huge," said Jeremy Lees, USF's Assistant Director of Athletics for Equipment Operations. "I think there will be big steps going forward in this world, as far as how things are done and handled at the collegiate and professional level."

As Schutt's pioneer program, USF now has the ability to adjust padding pressure inside of helmets using mapping technology and a new pad system that allows the staff to make changes on the fly.

The process begins with players popping on a 3D helmet device that takes exact measurements of the head, even through hair, and feeds coded information into the computer system through Bluetooth technology. Inside the actual helmet, there are 20 different pod positions and six pad configurations that can be adjusted electronically to make sure a player feels complete comfort. 

Jay White, Chief Technology Officer for Falcon Pursuit, has been a Schutt advisor since 1993 and helped design software and hardware for the UR1 dating back to October 2018. White flew to Tampa with Schutt representatives last week to conduct the initial fittings for USF in the program's equipment room. The process is ongoing, especially if a player cuts his hair, or bumps his head, and needs specific adjustments in real time.

"Computers can solve an entire human problem," White said. "There's sliders on there, so if the athlete goes, 'Hey, I want a little more pressure because I like a really tight-fitting helmet,' we adjust the slider and then all the pod configurations change based on their view of how they want their helmet to fit."

Seventeen USF players at positions all over the field are serving as the test subjects for the UR1 and were able to start using the helmets at practice one day after initial fittings. The list includes tight end Mitchell Wilcox, quarterback Jordan McCloud, defensive end Greg Reaves, running back Jordan Cronkrite, linebacker Dwayne Boyles, receiver Randall St. Felix, defensive back Bentlee Sanders and left guard Demetris Harris.

Players were selected based on different head size ranges, hair length and past difficulties with helmets staying on in games. Lees said the array of Bulls will provide "a nice breadth of feedback" for Schutt to make helmets as safe as possible for USF along with a list of Division I programs and NFL teams to in the future.

Select Bulls wore the UR1, which has six protection layers and weighs 4.6 pounds, in last Saturday's 45-20 victory at East Carolina. Those players have been equipped with four different helmets, one for practice and three others in game color styles, that will be worn the rest of the season.

"I've been playing football since I was 10. There's some helmets that haven't fit me perfectly, just OK," Harris said. "This took into consideration my hair, my beard, my jaw angle, everything. When you measure all that and you put it on, it fits perfectly."

"It's just gonna take our focus away from anything that's messing up in our helmets and just let us focus on the game and lock in," Reaves added.

More Bulls could be wearing custom fitted UR1 models during the season and the hope is for the entire team to be using them by the spring. The UR1 is a variation of the F7 model USF has worn for the past year-and-a-half, and the Bulls solely use Schutt helmets.

"This is kind of our first field test of running guys through the fit protocol and then actually creating the helmet here on site, giving it to them, getting some feedback from them after practice and then seeing how they perform in game-type situations," said Tucker Petre, NFL/NCAA Sales and Marketing National Director for Schutt Sports. "Obviously, the University of South Florida has always been a great partner for us, a good team for us. Jeremy (Lees) and his crew have been really helpful, letting us come in here and do this."

If all goes to plan, the UR1 will allow USF to re-use the model for other players in future seasons thanks to the custom-fitting process. In the meantime, the Bulls are laying the technological groundwork for the rest of the football world.

"A lot of those guys are very anxious to see how it goes here," Petre added.
 
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22^nd season of football, and 19^th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-4 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150^th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
 
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