How Guardian Helmets are Transforming NFL Safety | Al Nittoli on Player Protection
52 min readIn this episode, we dive into how Guardian Helmets are reshaping player safety in the NFL, youth football, and beyond with Al Nittoli, football coach and expert on Guardian Caps. Hosted by Coach Schuman and Coach Depascale, this insightful discussion covers the impact of Guardian Helmets, concussions, and advancements in football safety equipment at all levels of the sport. We also explore how Guardian Caps are helping youth football programs reduce concussions and enhance player protection.
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Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction: Al Nittoli and Guardian Helmets
1:45 – How Guardian Caps Work to Improve Safety
4:20 – Guardian Caps in the NFL: Hard Knocks & Preseason
6:35 – NFL Concussion Prevention: Key Results with Guardian Helmets
9:15 – Al Nittoli’s Experience in Youth Football and Guardian Caps
13:45 – Guardian Caps in High School Programs: Results and Feedback
17:00 – The Evolution of Football Safety Technology
20:05 – Reducing Concussions in Youth Football with Guardian Helmets
23:30 – Parental Perception of Safety with Guardian Caps
28:15 – Youth Football Coaching Strategies for Player Safety
31:00 – The Role of Helmets and Guardian Caps in Modern Football
35:45 – The Future of Football Safety Technology: Position-Specific Helmets
40:30 – Training Coaches to Implement Safety Standards in Youth Programs
45:00 – NFL Players Using Guardian Helmets in Regular Season Games
49:25 – How Guardian Helmets Are Used Across Different Football Levels
53:10 – Closing Thoughts on Football Safety Advancements
All right we're back we got a great episode today
we have Al Natoli from Guardian caps if you guys Are familiar and and by the way coach coach
is not just obviously with Guardian caps he's Also a football coach at the Paul Catholic High
School uh an assistant there and it's one of the Top programs in in New Jersey um so we'll talk to
him about not just the guardian CS but obviously Some of the things that he's seen within football
as well um but Guardian you know was with the NFL If you guys see um if you watch Hard Knocks you'll
see the guys have the guardian caps on in in the Preseason um that's the soft shell that goes over
the uh the hard shell um and it's uh it's a safety Thing and obviously the NFL especially since
uh and we talked a little bit before we got on The show you know since the whole uh concussion
movie I remember the the impact of that the the The guardian caps have had a huge surge we have it
in our our program in Middletown uh ayf um in the Where I coach my son so I see it firsthand we have
him on in every practice um so the the emphasis on Safety and and continuing to talk about safety and
football um it's it's really great to have Al on And talk more about it Al welcome to the show man
thank you guys appreciate appreciate being here Thank you for having me Al and one of the things
that's really great to talk about Al on this is Al obviously I said coaches in high school but
he also for many many years ran uh the Oakland Youth football program um and you know his son
was in that program uh those kids he's seen you Know the impact uh of hits and all those kind
of things in youth football he's seen the highs And the lows of it and then obviously going into
high school so he's seen it at multiple levels he Really kind of understands the impact of safety
in football and the things that are constantly Evolving on it um you know my first question is
you know Guardian to me has become the N there There are other things out there and we had we
had a a group on that did another version that Was like more of a a harder shell version I guess
I would call it but um Guardian has become like The premier uh group with respect to safety
as far as the additional soft shell on top Of the helmets but it's always so it's always so
hard like for me as a football coach like you're Always trying to quantify what do exactly mean
when it puts on when you ask a parent you know We put this thing on what is exactly is this thing
doing for us right um so talk about like Guardian From a safety standpoint the evolution of it and
the impact so it's funny when you brought up the Oakland Braves when it was about 201 probably 16
or 15 I was also coaching at Bergen Catholic at The time and at that time Bergen Catholic was in
Guardian caps one of the first high schools in New Jersey to be in Guardian caps and I was
like what are these things these are pretty Cool and the linebacker coach Edan Curran was
at the time the guardian cap sales rep um his Son is now the head coach at Fairley Dickinson um
so Ed's like hey if you want me to come talk to Your youth program we could possibly do that so
he came down I had this whole town hall where I Brought in Rell and guardian caps and mouthpieces
and really tried to get out in front of the whole
Concussion thing so it was right around the heat
of it and I'm taking over this youth football Program that had 60 70 kids in it and I was like
we really have to rebuild this thing and rest Um some confidence from the parents so we were
the first youth program to be in Guardian caps In the state of New Jersey so my son who's now
17 years old 18 years old he's been in Guardian Cap since he's eight years old and when I tell you
you know from a coaching perspective and a parent Perspective we all focus on head safety and we'll
get into that but Guardian caps in general during The course of practice you know how it goes a
hard helmet to an 8-year-old's Shin elbow body Whatever those are tough blows to take at that age
when your body is not fully just like ramped up to Do it and sometimes it makes the game not so fun
so the initial thing that I saw was yeah we have Head safety but the the sound of the game and the
safety of the game just went up tremendous because The body blows and just the little things you
would think of as far as the head-to-head contact And all that sort of stuff it was amazing what
we saw in our program we went from having five to Seven concussions a year in practice to literally
zero and we we changed the way we practiced a lot Too so you know with the combination of the
Guardian caps and just being a little bit more Aware of how you're doing drills how far apart you
are where you're coming from what you're exposing The kids to really really was successful for us um
at the High School level we've implemented those At our high school and you know as well as anybody
else in North Jersey you get after it in practice Oh yeah um yeah we're going on three seasons now
with nothing happening in practice which is really Incredible that's amazing so you see it happening
and a lot of people focus on like the big hits Like oh that must have been a it's really not just
not those ones way it's the subconcussive grinding Especially with the offensive and defensive
linemen where you where you'll see sometimes In the higher levels the guardian caps the crown
of them they'll really wear and then you'll say To yourself wow that was helmet to helmet wear
like last year with you guys just grinding and Grinding and grinding so coupled with all that I
mean it's just been really remarkable um how this Thing has uh really transformed itself from 2015
to where we are now in 2024 and seeing it on the Field in NFL games right I it's really interesting
and and it's like one of the things I think that Parents get assured on more is that when you
see the hits I think with the guard you said The sound it it's no longer that crack sound that
you hear if somehow they do accidentally bang you Know helmet to helmet or something or someone hit
somebody it's it's a much lighter sound I think You know and and for those people who don't know
like when you know you're at a youth practice and It was probably the same when you were a youth
coach parents are sitting there the whole time In football watching right and they're like right
there they're like right on the side right there So like they know every time you yell in practice
they know every time you're upset in practice and Mo they most of them could care less about that I
mean other than unless you go crazy but what they
Really care about is is he okay are they are
they what if somebody gets hit like how fast Does that whistle go like are the coach is quick
with the whistle right and I think the guardian Helmets really do a great job of lessening that
sound that makes them feel a lot more assured in That process and I think that's really really uh
a unique thing that those the safety of the soft Shell helmet does right and I think like you
said Dave like we've talked about it right and Then when we had you know uh Jim Kramer on from
safer sports like ultimately like everybody's in The same world of like wanting to help this game
continue to you know to be a staple right and at And that only happens if we take care of the youth
guys right and you know like you said I think it's More of an appeal to the parents a and and like
you said the optic aspect of it in terms of you Know like you said they're right there at practice
so they're seeing everything that's going to go On they're hearing those sounds and a lot of them
you know whether they played the game or not grew Up watching those big hits right and that that's I
mean those those were the highlights that used to Be on Sports Center where the the bone crunching
hits and and that type of stuff and now to see if The the younger you start with the protections
and the hey we're implementing this right and That technology like that's where I think the
game will continue to grow you know regardless And now you know like Al said like son's been in
it you're good like his son's been in it can you Hear us Al can you hear can you hear us or no uh
I don't think he can he might go back you might Have to go back out and go back go back out and go
back in like I said um yeah uh let me see you want Me to text them yeah I'll send them there there
go but like I was saying like I think that stuff Right like kind of all ties into it and now if if
they like when they were growing up right parents Like they that was it they was physical football
it was contact it was this it was that so now to See us moving into this new world where literally
like Al said you know his son since eight years Old has been in a guardian like he doesn't know
any different you know what I mean like they look At you know the way we played football like we
looked at guys in leather helmets you know what I Mean so I think all of that together can kind of
just add to you know the growth of the game and Like Al said you saw a dip for a couple years and
now you're starting to see it back up on the rise I mean I interesting point that you you brought
up there I I didn't even think about it from that Standpoint I guess because I'm 50 years old I I
still think of myself as being young you brought Up a great point they look at they look at the
football that like back in here you're good you're Good can you hear us now yeah I can hear you now
yeah all right cool cool cool I think I think you The point you brought up D dck brought up a point
he was talking about um how how important things Like the guardian caps are now um and he was
he was saying I was just about to say that he Brought up a point where he said they look at how
we played football like when like me and now were In high school or even probably when you were in
high school Derek definitely as it was like um
When the guys that coached me played Without face
masks you know what I mean and leather helmets Right and that's how you know because I remember
I always remember myself Mario Alia and Mario Alia Had I don't know if you know that name because Al
from Garfield uh uh uh oh you're a you're a boiler Maker origin moved on up he's moved on up in the
world but he's originally a boiler I didn't know You were a Bo purple baby purple yeah he he he
bleeds that purple but uh uh so what was what's What's interesting about it is I never thought
about it like that I thought that's an interesting Point that you brought up because that you could
the kids are now cultured to start to wear those Guardian caps because I remember Mario Ali who was
our athletic director and he had in his office his Helmet which was a leather helmet okay and I was
like you played with that that that was the helmet You guys were at high school I the 50s that's what
he wore even even to look at the helmet like like I have my helmets up on my back wall I look at my
helmet now in comparison to what these kids are Wearing just in general and that's without even
say that's without even talking about a guardian Or aing I'm like I can't like you know that whole
first week of practice you you were you more about It was like dude my head hurts just from my helmet
right like these guys like it's just so different And to add now this I mean you know I see jail
Peppers the other day in the game and he's got a Guardian cap on and it's like that's like a guy
that you know TR to contract I want to play as Long as I could play that's what it is and you
know like the I I personally think you'll see Now obviously we have all the other injuries
right but for the most part like if you could Stay in it mentally in that aspect of it like
you could extend your career even if it's one Or two years longer right than the average you
know which is what three years maybe you know So now you can add that like well that's millions
of dollars obviously that's Millions dollars if You add a year or two to your career that's second
contract right like to that second contract so is Jabriel the the the he wore it in the I didn't
see that yeah there was five guys that wore it That day okay and now Al my question so now they
have the Guardians and then they have the uh Like the sleeve that's basically like the helmet
right like looks like the helmet so is that like Provided do they do that on their own is that like
you no so what what happened was we we really were Um not anticipating this season them being warn
in games but there was such a demand for it that That we had to like get our design team going
so we're desig yeah so we're working with the NFL teams directly obviously on a day-to-day basis
because a lot of teams have four or five different Helmet looks yeah especially because they had
the new rule you can have a third one now yeah Yeah it's a very difficult process in making sure
that the pinap matches as closely as possible to The game the game day the game day helmet look I
was GNA say something before and they brought up Good point about an oldtime coach I found in the
youth programs right you bring in these coaches To come coach your kids and they really don't
know anything about coaching other than the last
Time they were coached so if you're a 40y old guy
you know it was 30 years ago your coach was that Guy who was having you you know run head-to-head
into a into a brick wall right and if you didn't You were soft so there's a lot of like I I made
a a really um strong effort in when we got our Coaches in to coach our coaches you got to educate
just set a playbook for this is how we're going to Do things whether it's in second grade or eighth
grade we're going to look the same we're going to Dress the same on Mondays we're going to do this
on Tuesdays we're going to do this on Wednesdays We're g to do this so that as a the head of a
program I didn't have to think about what is The seventh and eighth grade team do it today what
is the fifth so if we're in uppers we're in uppers As a program if we're in full we're in full as
a program and then what are your drills going to Look like because I don't know about you I look at
the NFL drills they're doing the same drills that You see in second grade right they're just amped
up a little bit so we had like a drill package of Like these are the drills that you're permitted
to do with Oakland Braves football and these are The days that you're permitted to do them and
this is the amount of time that you're going to Be doing them throughout the course of the week
this is your livetime this is when you're going Live this is how much lifetime you're G to get
and in the beginning it was tremendous push back But before you know it like it really works
because everyone's on the same page and our Program went from 70 kids to almost 200 kids
because going on and that's phenomenal that's the Mo you know and now that I'm a youth coach I've
got full here so it's phenomenal that you say that And I didn't realize that you did you you you did
that with uh the o the Oakland Braves but yeah it It it's phenomenal they do it because I literally
come to practice like I have and my coaches do a Great job but the first year last year I think
I only had three assists now I have five guys But the first year the first thing they wanted to
do was literally I'm not kidding Oklahoma right That's the first thing they wanted to do and I was
like no no no no no like we have to progress and We're not going to do Oklahoma it's G to you know
any kind of tackling is going to be modified from An angle you know we don't want we want to go we
want to limit the fact that they go head on as Much as humanly possible right so um so we we did
that it worked out really well now this year we're No longer in development because we're now nine
and we're like competitive and you have a little More tackling but I watch what we do and how we
approach our practice and then I watch everybody's Doing something different and it's not it's
not an indictment of the program it's you know It's just it's just everybody has to figure it
out for themselves and I think that what you did Is phenomenal because I think it's important to
have a stage set of how much hitting is necessary To get the kids to whatever point we're looking
to get them to right yep luckily I've been a High school coach where we've reduced you know all
those years we reduced over the years the level of Tacking like what I did when I was in Saddlebrook
in 2002 when I doing with my DBS you you would
Have me arrested for that you know now you know
so so so it's it's completely changed and evolved Over those years you obviously have have to have a
certain level of hitting um but it's that part of Football I think more and more because I watched
way too many Clips on Instagram where like oh yeah It's disgusting yeah it's abusive it's disgusting
right what he's especially especially now like Back then Dave like even for me when I started I
couldn't really go on the internet and find all These drills now you can learn how to do anything
so you really if you want to go and search you Know you you could have practice plans you know
at your fingertips within seconds so it's really Just they really don't know any better they don't
have the time so I always said to myself listen I Have 80 coaches in my program from top to bottom
they all have jobs and they all have kids they Don't want to go online and do all this work but
if I'm the commissioner of the football program And I want things to look a certain way and be a
certain way I have to do that work for them so I Put together the practice plans I put together
the video clips and I put together the lesson Plans and I would have them come in twice a
week from January until we started this the The next season buy pizzas for the guys buy some
beers for the guys and we would just literally go Over the drills and how they're supposed to be
done and what they're supposed to look like and You had made a good point about like you know
those AAP tackles are always the toughest ones Right angle tackling you can get a gap attack
we did everything with rolling bags so anything That was like a gonna be that hit I had them hit a
bag because guess what I know the kid that I have Playing middle linebacker and I'm not gonna put a
kid who can't do it in there so I I don't need him Hitting a bunch of kids that are kind of afraid to
run through the a gap and face him so let him hit A rolling back so with technology and the drills
that are out there and just the awareness coupled With you know advancements in Technology and
Safety whether it's the type of helmet you wear Or a guardian cap or the right fitting mouthpiece
which is like really important as well one of the Most underrated things I think the chin strap
that isn't on properly and not fitted correctly Like those are all injuries waiting to happen
that could be prevented so in an environment You know when when I first started when concussion
movie and everything was at its peak I kept saying To myself what are the controllables like what
are the things that I can do that can help the Perception of the Oakland football program or
any youth program make a parent feel safe safe To sign their kid up to come play football and
you're always going to have those kids that are Gonna play anyway and then you're G those kids
that have no business playing and then you're Gonna have those borderline kids and it's those
are the kids like those are the kids that choose To go play lacrosse or fall baseball instead of
come play football because they said oh we could Just play football in eighth grade and I'm not
a big proponent of that I understand the mindset Of it but I think a lot of it has to do with the
fact that football's kind of like unsafe coached
By guys that really don't know what they're doing
so why should I have my son take hits from sixth Seven second grade to eighth grade when you just
start in eighth grade but if you're running a Great program like there's a lot of it's It's
I equate it to a fastball you can't get into a Cage and high or get into a a high school game
and hit 100 mile hour fastball if you haven't Seen a 30 m hour fastball a 40 a 50 a 60 and
youve built yourself up you got to build up to It right it's the same thing with football my son
would never be able to go into a depal Catholic Football game and compete at a high level if he
didn't do that in second grade in third grade and Fourth and built his confidence and his knowledge
of the game and the way to do things the right way So I just think there's been a lot of like bad
coaches bad programs that have really made the Game worse and I think that's really on an upturn
which I'm really excited about because I spend my Life now traveling from literally youth programs
High School programs college programs and NFL Programs from Maine down through Delaware 365 days
a year so it's non stop and I see what everybody's Doing across the country I see where the problem
areas are and I see where the real good programs Are um and I think you're G there's many more
good ones out there now than bad ones for sure I I I think you're you're you nailed it on the
head it's definitely improved dramatically the The issue always becomes when it obviously it's
competitive football right and there's wins and Losses at the end of it and what happen I think
happens is um you're right that they don't have The time these these guys have full-time jobs it's
like da assistant High School football coaches Right like even assistant High School football
coaches if you're not uh you know a teacher you Have another job like now I'm supposed to go and
watch film and do all this other stuff and and These guys are volunteers so got to remember that
too so there's something with guys who aren't you Know they're they're not getting paid even a small
stien to do it they're doing it you know usually They have a kid on the team or or they like they
like football that much but I think you know it's It's funny because me my thought goes to like I
should have Al coming in and explain this whole Process because we're probably considered one of
the better as far as overall programs because the Guy runs it's very good but like this would take
things to a next level where guys wouldn't have To worry about you know what their experience
level is of playing right you wouldn't have to Be like oh oh great well you know Dave's played
college he he's played you know coached high School for me all right that's an e that's an
easy one that you're probably gonna be able to Get a certain amount of things done the right way
the hard one is this guy hasn't played since high School okay like you were saying 20 years and the
guy who he learned from because I think about you Know and you you from Garfield so you know we
played the same conference you know and guys Did things basically the same way most of the
guys Garfield sbook uh low I am with Park they Were all those old school guys before them were
all the original guys from those areas and they
All T football kind of a similar way for the most
part you know it was very very very downhill very Very physical and everything had to do with that
and that changed so if a guy's learn that way and Now you know they have kids 25 years later they
they are now in charge of a a a coaching a team And they're literally trying to figure out with
their other assistant I think those guidelines are So important and I think what you talked about
was so important in that you know aif can have Their General guidance because I'm sure they do
they these guys are not looking at them they they Are because they don't understand how it applies
to them directly right they don't understand how It applies to their daily practice and so to give
them a a a daily practice plan without knowing the Intricacies of their individual program doesn't
make sense and that's why I think is the beauty Of what you were doing and and I'm actually gonna
talk to to my uh uh commissioner about that for Going forward because I think it would help like
I see such a wide range like it's not that they Can't coach they're guys that coach really well
they just don't know how to do it to the level you Know you have to coach the coaches and we started
at the same time and we ended at the same time So you know how many coaches you say oh parents
are complaining this practice went for this long Well Dave you've had that issue right because
Dave's cut down practice time and then like I was an hour I went an hour and a half okay
last year because we were you know we were in Development it like really you're eight years old
you know it was an hour and a half well I thought The mistake ayf made and this this is just to me
it was a huge mistake they got rid of development At 9u and just made it all competitive because I
guess it was easy just to make it you know make It all competitive meaning no more coaches on the
field right so you didn't have a you didn't have a Choice we're not in the field when we coach right
so at n n you so we're on the sideline so now what Has happened I had to explain to my parents that
like practice may go a half hour longer because You know going through re you know actual plays
where I'm not there to tell them where to go and They have to kind of have to they have to figure
it out uh is is very very hard I mean I'm lucky Like the two kids who were my quart my son and the
other kid that are my quarterbacks they know each Other really well they're they kind of are similar
kind of athletes both guys for the most part so I'm able to kind of get away with certain but I
just think about how other guys are not able to Get away with that like I'm able to get away with
it because my son is a quarterback and the other The other quarterback who's also good they're
similar kind of guys probably similar type of body Types too so it makes it makes it easy right I'm
not I'm not taking two different guys and they Have to learn different things and they're able
to take charge pretty well right but it's not That way and and I've done I had to go to assist
because the first two games we weren't running a Lot of plays but I had it on their wrist and they
had the names of the plays now the quarterbacks Could remember everything right and but basically
they were spending half their time getting guys
Lined up right because they knew it and it was
hard very young right but so then we went to graph We went to graph literally it's it's a graphic
you know what everybody does my quarterbacks Don't like it as much but it helps everybody
else a lot more right so um so but I think that Those kind of things are things that as a program
whatever you're inividual program you could have Suggestions for guys because I honestly I didn't
know that because last year they had it on their Wrist but I was in the huddle with them I was
able to take Johnny put him over here as a wing Back and say block that kid right there number
18 totally different yep so and as they evolve You you need to be able to to do those things
and to to be able to show them okay this level Of kid can maybe handle this this level because I
was a high school coach I didn't really know what They could handle you know so um so I knew from
a safety standpoint what we didn't want we didn't Want to do I knew kind of development wise how I
wanted to develop them skill-wise and physically But then you get to the actual play aspect because
they got to play the game at some point you're on A sideline and that part is really hard and the
evolution of that so I I think what you talk I Mean that like that's uh that's something that
you did that is unbelievable and I don't know How many programs are starting to do that but like
that's something that I hope they take that model Because we as a high school coach like I would be
so much so thankful even to just understand that I knew my kidss were being coached the right way
before they got into my program in terms of the High school it just cuts down on so much of the
time and the like the other kind of nonsense the Bad habits and I've been doing this since second
grade and all that kind of stuff like and you Ultimately like that will only increase the amount
of players that continue to play football because They'll be encouraged and they'll be coached the
right way so that they don't get a bad taste in Their mouth and then never come out and you know
how many times do we see a guy that like doesn't Play football anymore because he had a bad coach
in you know second or third grade like when it's The most pivotal to kind of give them those
positive pieces of the puzzle the phrase that I've always hated in coaching and in Youth Sports
and even high school sports for that matter is It's the way way we've always done it that's the
way we've always done it and just so bad yeah so Uh Drew Gibbs was a good friend of mine rest soul
and he said to me I said I ran into an a coach's Clinic I'm like man you still go to these things
he goes the minute I stop going to these things I'm G to retire because I'm you're never too old
to learn something right so when you're bringing These coaches in you're explaining how you're
going to do things it it wasn't very well re Received by the coaches in the beginning like
I'm gon to tell you what to do and it was more Along the lines of like this is how it's going
to be like this is a volunteer position you don't Have to do this if if you don't want to but this
is about keeping the kids safe and growing the Program and developing a winning program so um I
would never tell we would tell people when it came
To like play calling and stuff um I didn't really
get on the coaches on how they called the game But if we ran power to the right it was called the
same thing in second grade as it was in 8th grade It was never called the same thing in high school
though because High School coaches come and go and Where my program is located I have kids going to
Hills I have kids going to ripo I have kids going To Bergen and Joe's and and all over so I wasn't
really a theater program for any specific coach Or program which correct some High School coaches
did not like but what I always wanted to say when A kid got the freshman year football that coach
said this kid understands how to play football How to prepare for football you know we had
mandatory film every kid had to bring a notebook Had a pen they had to wear their same short shorts
and their t-shirts the film sessions as they did To walkr so we tried to create we tried to prepare
kids in second grade for high school right in very Simple ways and then we ramped it up as they got
up to seventh and eighth grade and they were about To go and like you said each uh yeah and each
little program right like you could you know Dial it up as much as you want or not right like
it it all depends on the how you want it but I Just think even with a that the General structure
of giving guys some practice plans and even within Their own teams like hey you have a little wiggle
room to do what you want here but I don't want to Look over and see you going like just going rogue
because then you know then it's not it's not good For anybody and and it happens happens a lot
you know so having Guardian caps on kids heads Kind of is just another layer of defense against
stupidity at the Youth Level right because there's A lot of coaches out there that need need some
help and need some guidance um so it's a it's an Effective tool on its own but when you couple that
with smart coaching good technique smart drills It's it becomes really effective what's the basic
science behind the guardian C I'm D I don't know If this is an area of your ex but what is like the
basic science like for any parent that really yeah So when I was at my first um I remember seeing
Guardian caps it might have been 2014 or 15 And the guy that was working at the booth at the
time said uh give me your hand I said okay and He took the two Guardian caps on helmets and
smashed my head like between the two the two Helmets and there's the technology like there's
the common sense approach to guys like you and me Like like I'm not a science guy but I know like
two hard objects hitting each other it's going To hurt two hard objects are going to definitely
hurt two soft objects going to hurt a lot less So it's as far as like the manufacturing of it
and the patents and stuff like that I'm not a Science guy I can't tell you that but what I can
tell you is when you um have that Guardian cap on And you're hitting someone else with a guardian
cap on it's it's it's crazy they you really just Have to try it I mean it's just um an amazing feel
because you you the I have one kid that said to Me I want to start wearing them in games and I'm
like why he goes because I'm a lineman and I don't Have headaches anymore um when I come home from
practice that's amazing right and he's a lineman
So he's not pounding guys he's just you know L
their FA is constantly buried on a sled on a bag On another kid on a coach right and it's constant
it's constant it's constant so that's really the Science behind it do do you think in the long
run that um either helmets will will evolve or Guardian evolves to change how the helmet is in
the sense to be more like a how a guardian is I Think you're definitely going to see our product
change the landscape of what's out there yeah what That turns into and how that evolves I have no
idea um what I do know is there's millions and Millions and millions of polycarbonate plastic
helmets out there that aren't going away anytime Soon um because think about the investment oh
the turnover right so yeah so like even like The newer VI helmets and stuff that have some of
the technology in them some positioned specific Helmets you're talking 700 I think that's the
one of the B next moves to 7008 700 800 e yeah And that's why you see a lot of kids now like
investing in their own helmets like and buying Hel how are you gonna Implement that into a youth
program where like you know for 50 60 bucks you Know you you put this on top and you still have
you know that that safety that that that you need So and I I bought the vikus helmet at first
because I when my son was starting I was like Oh let me just get the the greatest helmet out
there and see and it was like it was Heavy dude It was super heavy just not ready they're just not
built for right y e you know eighth grade and down You know maybe some of the bigger bigger kids can
handle it but you know the game is the game right Now that's got to be just saved and you want
just participation numbers to go up you yeah Yeah yeah 100 percent and I think we're in a good
spot for that yeah like Dave like the one thing I Did see is that there will be very very shortly
like position specific helmets that are coming Out like you know what I mean like they're going
to now start to build helmets like it's not just GNA be like oh hey you're a large you're a medium
you're this like there's gonna be hey this is a Lineman helmet this is a skill guy helmet this is
built for linebackers like that's like I believe From what I've you know try to do as much research
some of them some of them are out there already Just like there are shoulder pad specific shoulder
pads right so right right back in back when we got Shoulder pads we just got shoulder pads we looked
like I was like smallest one again and then that's It if I could have worn the cross shoulder pads
I probably would have but you know wide receiver With a neck roll in 1984 yeah hey that's the
listen we have a player now who's playing Linebacker at hun and all of a sudden we looked
at him the other day and he's wearing a neck roll I'm like this is crazy what's going on I know it's
re it's really really interesting and you know the Other thing and I'm curious your thoughts on this
so um because you you coached dep Paul where you Guys have a lot of really really good players that
come from real probably a lot of Allstar programs But a mix I'm sure a mix but a lot of kids from
you know also and what I've noticed which and Maybe this was the how it was 20 years ago I just
didn't notice it and and you were in obviously
Youth football a lot longer than I was so maybe
maybe you did notice it but um the levels of kids Even at the Youth Level is much greater because
you you can get trainers or you can you could work With and I've noticed that there are kids that are
like here here and here like super basic like you Know they're out there just playing because they
wanted to play there are kids that are good decent Athletes but they don't like put any more time and
then you get this level of kids that are are good At Le a minimum good athletes but they're putting
in a lot more work and it's created that and Obviously if you get an elite athlete who's put
you know he's going to be but you see the good ath That's putting in a lot of work has far distanced
himself from the kid who just plays even if he was A good a and so I've seen three levels just in
my two years and and that I didn't really think I noticed before like there were kids talent-wise
that were different level but I'm talking about Like physical and skill like things they can do
yep and and understand is is totally different Have you seen that like know you're coaching
the high school when you guys are when you kids Come from other programs coming to you have you
seen that at all or yeah so I think kids coming Into high school now are much more prepared def
for school football than they were 20 years ago um But I also think that holds true in all walks of
life with kids kids are have a lot of information At the fingertips they're exposed to things at
such a young age and I almost think like some Of it's too much and I think some of these kids
also sometimes get in the hands of not so good Trainers right they develop like a lot of very bad
habits right and and bad mindsets but there is no Doubt that the stud that you're getting freshman
year now is much different than the stud you're Getting freshman year in 1984 you know it's like
that kid in 84 was just a good athlete and he was Raw oh do we get a freeze freeze up on we maybe Good you you understand where he's coming
from 100% because you're looking at Kids Now and they're just so far accelerated ahead of
it like how many times do we say if we had access To some of these things or if we knew you know
some of these skills back then or whatever that It would have just taken our game to an entire
different level I think there's a happy medium When it comes to it in terms of some good some
bad but I think that's kind of like you know it's Always been that way when it came to you know
Sports and whatnot they just have a lot more Like at their fingertips than ever before right
and you never found like when I was growing up There wasn't I feel bad for Al he's gotta come
back in Hees I had no idea he was so involved With the the program like that I think that's
absolutely phenomenal to have a structure like That in terms of like coaching your youth coaches
like think about if your program now had just a Structure that's great remember we talked about
briefly like when I mentioned to you you like that Um it was and Al's taking that to a different
level with with his Pro when he was with that Program but um that there is oh I lost him well
there I losing everybody today I was like oh D
Like yeah we just it just must be the day uh but
the uh there is a like a a minimum skill level Right right that um you almost W have to like take
some type of test yeah so from a player standpoint But I think the bball the B football really solves
that like I think that that's something that um Is is uh okay yeah so you were talking about good
athlete to yeah so you you you you froze up there For a second Al can you hear me oh oh you're
on mute you're on mute you're on mute you're up He's let me see if I I'm back good the athlete is
just so much like I remember when one of our wide Receivers came um Dez and uh I saw him running
routes as like a freshman and I was like this Is like crazy this is like a senior in high school
running routes and it's just like and then another One came then another one came I was like wow like
it's a lot different Dave than like we grew up With there's no and quarterbacks like you got guys
Sims and midi and Lamar like they are so ready You know mentally you know um it's just amazing
the level of training that kids are are getting At this age you know and it doesn't always mean
success but they're definitely much more prepared But it puts them on that track though you know
what I'm saying like and we're not saying that That Jersy a leader with that too I mean really is
uh well I think it goes way back to the the speed And strength days you know of it all started like
Dave with like guys like you and Chuck Mound and Bill bill bill was really the first bill I think
that just took it to a whole different level of Like there's stuff and especially for football
specifically right like you always just went and Played another Sport and then it just opened
up this window of like hey like we can't do Football year round up here but if you need like
if you want to this is the track you have to go Right so it started out as guys going to straight
the conditioning coaches and now it's become like Now we go to strength coaches we go to speed
coaches we go to flexibility coaches we go to Receiver coaches like everybody has their Niche
that everybody tries to jump on and that I think Is something that that just didn't exist when my
son was 10 years old we drove to North Carolina Because he wanted to go to this linebacker
University I think I Dave and I spoke about I remember that yeah you you talked to me about
that I remember that yeah and he still keeps in Touch with those coaches um uh from down there
and it's just like uh it's amazing like if you If you need help with something there's a place
to go get it there's no doubt no no it's it's Really really interesting and it's interesting how
different places so you and you see the reflection High School like North Jersey I was just gonna say
that the parochial and the public school but the But the proo is kind of the leader of it um the
competition level is so high that you get like These spring Boards of other ancillary services
that come you know parent picks up his head and Says oh my God this kid's better than me at this
is there somebody that does that and then there's Some guy that's like hey I can do this I can help
you with that and he helps him with that and then All of a sudden he has a business from it where
you know down here when I moved down here that
Was the it's actually coming now it's been coming
much more the level of high school football in New Jersey is phenomenal um and you see it because
you're up and down the entire coast and I have the Like and as far as the Northeast is concerned
you know Pennsylvania has some teams for sure That could compete Ohio definitely has some teams
for sure that can compete but from like main down It's kind of like a little bit of Hit and Miss but
everything south of us is as far as I'm concerned Ahead of us like Georgia and Alabama and Florida
like they have like the the talent level there the Pools of talent level there the speed of the game
there is just it's just different it's literally Different yeah I think and and and dereck's talked
about this before for one of the things about the South it's just the same way that it's happened
you know for in the South for baseball and some Other sports you could literally a trainer doesn't
have to have a facility right you L go to the park And you could work your guy out and and you'll
probably get three clients that are walking around At the park just because they see you doing it
there too I'm saying everybody's all in but also You know obviously the other big part of it is
you know when you look at uh the the NFL is a Different thing but college football where college
football is best if kids are most kids if they're Good football players they probably have some
aspirations to play at least in college somewhere And if that's the case you look at the South with
blanket at so many football schools obviously top Tier as well because you got the SEC and and and
the weather component associated with all of it South um the same reason why California is still
good in football even though football is like one Of 9,000 Sports everyone plays in California yeah
but because of the weather you're G to be able to Do a lot of things you're you know you get a
modern day program that has a top tier program Or St John BOS has a top tier program because
of it but you get like that Corridor of the South it it's it's just like a perfect storm of
college football significance uh college football Significance um you know the ability to go work
out whenever you want whenever you want they have Spring football right in high school like at Tas
their first block of the day is football like and They all play like they all play like people were
like oh they folks they all play a lot of sports When they're young too yeah but what you have
in the Northeast is which is I think a lot of It is because of space meaning the winner is a big
block of months and it's probably way the problem In New England right but the big block of months
that you kind of have to be indoors and there's Only so many places that you can go indoors and
then these sports are the major like say soccer Or whatever take up the majority of the the field
space or what you know LaCrosse or whatever it is So it's harder to play like all your sports all
the time because indoor space is tough even though I try to do it with my kid you know what I mean
but it's it's one of those things where in the South you can go and do it because you don't have
to worry about that you gotta go you don't have to Go indoors oh girl basketball has the gym from
this time to this time so I can't get in there
You're always a little bit limited just spacing in
general right like how many true indoor facilities Can you go and really Chuck the ball around
like you need to and not have to worry about A kid running into a wall and it's hard for those
facilities to stay in business because when the Weather's nice they have nobody in side it when
the weather is shitty couple weeks they're all In there but like it's very very hard to keep the
lights on because those facilities are very big it Cost a lot of money to light them cost a lot of
money to air condition them or whatever the case May be and then what do you do with all that space
when nobody's in it so kids go back to school so Like you know it's definitely an advantage yeah
right now it's like and that's what's also made I think a lot of the uh the top tier programs
more and more successful although I guess You know you can speak to this more more than I
would be able to but in North Jersey there's so so So much emphasis in the proo programs that there's
probably been over time a little bit of water down In some of the at one point the they were they
were all really really really the best right but Now everybody's vying for a similar I would guess
a similar pool of talent for the most part and now You're seeing you know the the premier coaches or
programs getting more of the those guys and then You might have a year of shifts or whatever like a
class here or a class there but but I I've noticed That that landscape in North Jersey where it used
to be everybody was at a certain level now there's A a few that are really starting to separate
um just because you know the pool there is a Pool and these other sports which um although I
think football's had a huge Resurgence in in my Opinion because I remember when I was coaching
at Indian Hills um that was when you when you Were in charge of program that was really when we
were just starting to get out of that concussion Thing and you were re you had really just started
to really rebuild that that Oakland youth program You had much more kids than ever um but I think
there's been a resurge but I I do think that like I' I've always said this like soccer has done
like an insane job of selling soccer in in in America at the Youth Level I'm not talking about
high school or college they they've sold it like In a way with all these different levels they've
like almost mastered what you do you did really Great at Oakland which was the A and the B and
I think that the league you guys are in they've Mastered understanding kids are at different
levels and keeping them in the program and and As they get better moving them up or moving them
down and going through it all and I think in the Long run even though the beauty of football
is the high school thing nobody could touch That no one can touch no one could touch the
college thing although although we're working On I don't know in college we're working on maybe
destroying some of it but it's getting there but We're okay yeah I mean you keep soccer got a major
push when the concussion thing hit yeah so that Two threee period of the influx of kids well what
am I gonna play well I'm GNA play soccer right it Kind of drove those numbers especially like in
let's say North Jersey per se but now you're
Starting to see a reversal in that because because
of flag football so like we talk about this all The time the alternative used to be like I'm G to
go play soccer now the alternative I'm I'm G to go Play competitive flag football and now you see
the emergence of girls flag football right and Girls flag football is now a scholarship sport
in colleges right G be a state champ be a San Sport in high school soon that's going to happen
all over the country there's like no doubt about That that business model is here to stay and it's
going to keep on going um and that helps football You know in a in in a big way because when you're
done playing flag football and you get to high School you're going to go play you're going to
play football you're going to start to play maybe Now in seventh grade and eighth grade or fifth
grade and sixth grade versus like people the Football guys used to be afraid of flag football
because they like well they're gonna go play flag Instead of playing tackle I'm like well that's
better than them going to play soccer or going To play something that takes them completely
out of the sport right corre so maybe that Fifth grader needs a couple more years to develop
absolutely right and and and be ready to go play Tackle football so yeah that's definitely been a
shift for sure as well we picked up um this year I think six kids between flag football and like
SE we did seven on seven at the younger level Like yeah and which was I mean we weren't sure
how it would go and I really did it because uh Um we we had always had like 15 18 I think we
always had 14 right Derek but then everyone kep Asking for lower and then my son was coming up
anyway so I'm like all right let's just try and I mean we we did eight sometimes there were some
s we would we would pump up a little bit like it's Been so we so we put it in you know mirror what
we were doing with our flag leagues right like You youth all the way up and um I I wasn't sure
it was very hard to explain it to parents at first But once the kids actually played it so now they
look at it like um at least in our toown they look At it like there's tackle there's flag and then
if you want there's competitive seven of seven But you're not going to get hit you know you're T
it's tag so it's and it's passing so um and they Enjoy what I've noticed is the kids if they enjoy
one of the three like if they enjoy flag they may Go into football if they enjoy flag at seven
at seven they probably the football um if they Enjoyed the seven at seven they they they may or
may not if they enjoy two to to three outside of Tackle they probably will come and that's what I
saw like five or six of them came they like flat They had a great time in flag they they like they
like seven on seven and then they were like I want To try tackle and we got five or six kids uh
um from that who were who were good athletes You know who who came on board from that I mean
originally my my kid was like a flag K we weren't Sure and we were like you know he loved flag so
much he's like I want to try it you know and I Do think I was I was definitely one of those guys
that was like ah flag you know it was like how is That going to help tackle but I see it now like
I see absolutely exactly what you say it's just
The more they in it the better the way you the
way you felt is very common because they're like We're gonna lose this kid the flag but the reality
is you're keeping them in football so that's you Know as far as like creating numbers and creating
uh energy and Synergy amongst your program it's Give kids as many opportunities they can to stay
in football because eventually they'll they'll be Where you want them to be you know and that's and
and flag seven on seven those are your athletes Right so right you know those are the kids that
you really want to stay engaged because you could Lose them to other sports no doubt absolutely
and you're able to create different levels too Like we talked about you could create because if
everybody wants to play there's no reason to have To cut anybody you could have Recreation flag
you could have travel flag you could have flag Yeah exactly co-ed flag girl girls flag I mean
obviously is monster we we started as a uh this Will be the fourth year I think we're doing it um
but we started the first year like a few people That went to school with my son the the uh girls
were like hey are you gonna have anything for Girls and they're like you know we'll put it we
we we'll have a girls League see if anybody signs Up and like you know like 20 girls signed up they
were all different ages but we let them play and Then the next year it was like 60 and then it was
a hundred and we're like it's crazy girls flag has Uh and obviously the Olympics is going to make a
big impact in that as well no no no for sure 100% But but yeah I mean Al this has been absolutely
phenomenal uh talking to you I mean your Insight Is like it's it's p it's very unique because
you've been at you obviously you played but You've been at the Youth Level and you're at you
know Elite program high schoolwise so you kind of See the uh uh the two things and you ran that you
and your Insight on how to help the youth program Advance is is really a phen I actually think that
you should go around and and as as a sidebar uh uh Gig for you in your in your free time by the way
in your free time tell I'll do it for I'll do that Part for free just just to sit down with people
because I think listen we all we all do this for One reason we love football you know like no one's
getting rich coaching High School football you're Certainly not getting rich coaching youth football
right so the only way that this gets to keep going Is if we keep kids safe and we Supply as much
knowledge as we can to the coaches and it's at The youth levels because that's where it's all
that's where it's all coming from that's where We get all our kids from so you could tell right
off the bat when you get a kid that's been coached Well you're like yep you know listen this kid is
on cruise control right now absolutely yeah so I Think it's a great thing that you guys are doing
as well thanks so much Al we'll let you go it's It's been great having you on listen you just go
to game breaker Al's emails on there if you have A question about it um like I said our program's
on it we we we think it's you know it's it's a Mandatory and necessary part of it and and it's
interesting because the parents have started to Ask about uh can we play with it obviously all
the kids most of the kids aren't so they haven't
Played some the kids have but I always tell them
so Alfred University you you know you know Alfred University Upstate New York yeah they their whole
they they played whole entire collegate game last Weekend with Guardian caps on every every member
of just the guard did they have like any of this The like helmet logo no they did not they just had
they just had a flat color like they don't give it They didn't give a [ __ ] they were just like
let's go the feed we have now hundreds of high School programs across the country using them in
games we have I mean like for you just think about How many even not if we don't even count youth
think about how many high school programs right Like within your territory your area I mean that's
it's just phen like all it's going to take like Now you see Alfred doing it like just watch how
many more now do it right because everything's a Copycat and it's it promotes the game and the
safety like that's what people want to see now The president of this University is going to ask
the president of Alford univ hey why what are Your guys your guys are doing this or oh you want
you're on the you know you're on the the front end Of this technology like it's just it's good for
everybody to kind of just hey this is what it is Let's continue to help grow the game and this is
a piece of it 100% couldn't have said it better Appreciate you bud thanks so much for coming on
and you know rest of the season you guys have A heck of a team we got a week Cardinal like
watching that quarterback is electric have you Watched them play yet no I haven't I haven't
yeah take Che out take a look yeah all right All right Al good luck this week and we'll talk
thanks for coming on soon man thank you right See well thank you bye that that was great that
was an excellent topic you know what I didn't Take into account too like we talked about it
like because he goes and meets with so many of These youth organizations because obviously
for that like that's where your money maker Is right because like if you think about it you
sell how many in bulk to a Youth Organization Depending on whatever he sees these ones that are
just [ __ ] shows dude like oh what do you mean Like you know we can have each kid pay for it
individually just just craziness I'm sure that He sees but so that his feedback is now like wow
like if you did something like this or don't do This and I'm sure he picks up on positive things
as well from each of those meetings or whatever But like you want to talk about a guy that's on
the Forefront of like what football in America at Least in the Northeast is right in his territory
like those are the guys you want to talk to and Those aren't the people that you would even think
about right you're like oh he's just a Salesman It's like no dude like this guy really knows like
what's going on and that he's been through it in In numerous levels right he's he's done it as a
youth guy he's doing it as a high school coach He's done it and now he's seen his his son is now
also going through that entire recruiting process You know as somewhat of a maybe an an undersized
linebacker trying to like so he's navigating that World on a team that's phenomenal surrounded by
like like five stars all over the place right like
Going to Notre Dame and Ohio State and Boston
College and so he's kind of like he just wears So many hats and has so much knowledge across the
board from a coach as a dad as an organizer as a It's like damn dude like he's like an encyclopedia
well with you know that's the thing about meeting With all these teams on is with the guard the
guardian thing is interesting because when I Saw J Bill Peppers wearing it in the game this
weekend Dave I was like my first thought was oh He must have signed a deal or something like you
know like like a you know whatever but then that Was the other question because you know me I'm
an equipment guy Optics type of guy like you're Gonna have one dude on the New England Patriots
running around there with a with a mushroom cap on And not have it look like everybody else's helmet
so that's why I asked Al are your guys doing that Part of it because that's what it's going to be
now won not only are you selling Guardians you Got to sell four or five different helmet caps to
match the helmet for the week right like so that's What I think is is is part of the whole thing
too you know like especially in the NFL where Look dude you got to wear socks a certain way or
you're getting fined um I I think that that's a It's really really interesting that from a safety
standpoint um people wearing Guardian cap like I It makes me think like is the helmet really really
has to change I guess my my thing is this said That they are very close to having helmets not to
cut you off no like not to like I literally saw Him he was on the Pat McAfee show the other day
and he talked about it because Pat maery brings This stuff up all the time obviously like he's
a big like safety type dude you know as a kicker Whatever but he brought like he was asking Goodell
and he said that they are very very very close to Having helmets if not already some on the market
right that helmets that literally mimic a guardian In some way shape or form I'm not saying Optics
it looks like it I'm not saying anything like That I'm just saying they have helmets that are
basically a builtin guardian but like the helmet Itself okay so that technology and think about
how te how fast technology moves Dave like you Know like huddle like one year we didn't have
everywhere dude helmet technology been slow Awful like if you you p a huddle Huddle's a good
example look from the time they came out with the First raw huddles which were really raw to now
and what huddle can do I mean they break down Your film for you it's 15 years right and this is
going on like huddle technology from you know the Time they went to regular helmets in like I don't
know 60s to now has not evolved in the way that it They might say oh it's evolved we have this this
you would you would think that it would have been Like somewhere like here it's like yeah I mean
I know it's changed and obviously you could see It changing quicker and quicker and quicker you
know as the years kind of progress right like I Think they've picked up on like hey we better
continue to you know move forward with this Technology but like for a span of like whatever
amount of years not much changed right you can See the trends looking at you know if you look
at just the NL Clips like throughout the years
Right like I can remember when I was growing up
there used to be the skinny bar face mask and Then you had those real thick like plastic ones
right and then you know for a while you had like Guys wearing all kinds of like crazy almost like
Gladiator looking face masks right and then you Saw the helmet go from like a bubble to like this
and like all like you've just seen changes but I Think you're G to see more rapid progression with
that I I I think that's smart because that really Makes it people will feel a lot more comfortable
with everything from that standpoint so 100% but That that was great show um we will get off
here some great comments in the chat by the Way we oh God no they're good actually good no
oh nice everybody's with us now one guy wants Me to play the piano so um oh that's all right
well you get a lot of request for that dude so Like let's get off the show tomorrow
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