But relative to the way the paint looked on the new helmets before the change it’s far superior to what we had immediately before the change.

The reality is that helmet technology has changed (and will continue to change).

Getting your preferred Pantone on the new helmet designs is impossible.

You don’t have to love them, but most people agree they are better helmets than at the link

• Click here for link at https://goo.gl/images/1yFwKQ

Because it wasn't sticking to the new helmet materials.

I used to think it was BS, much like our "turf", and the failure of paint to stick was just an excuse to gussy things up.

But it turns out a friend of ours works for Riddell, and we talked through helmet changes "since I wore one" and specifically about the trouble ND was having with the paint (it wasn't just Riddell, Schutt and everyone else were having the same problem with our helmets and paint).

Now, could they have gone with less "sparkle" or something else? Sure, but I'm glad they did something because the other ones were shit. You may not think they are the right ones, but I still contend it's better than it was.

Some sort of primer, etc. Even if not, I just think the new paint is too sheap looking.

Why the old paint didn't work anymore. You have two options with helmets. Create/make the plastic in the color/style you want (and either buff it to a shine or keep it matte), or paint them.

We choose to paint, so do many schools. The new materials don't hold paint the same way the old helmets did. This isn't unique to ND. They had to change the process, because by the end, with the new helmets, and our old paint, it looked like shit.

Did they have to pick the exact gold they did, via hydrographics? No, but it's still better than what we had immediately before.

The old helmets were dull/cheap looking at best and befitting a poorly funded Pop Warner team at worst.

It was a nice story about the managers painting them from week to week but technology passed them by.

I don't like the current helmet. I think the gold looks cheesy. Which is not to say that its immediate predecessor was the gold standard, so to speak.

And the trousers are really bad.

Are you talking about our helmets right before we changed to hydrographics, or are you going farther back?

We will differ if that is your take on these:

The yellow/mustard looking ones we currently wear don't look good, in person, or on TV.

What is actually somewhat comical about that, is the pant color is "retro" in the sense it's much closer to what we wore in the 60s and 70s than what we wore in the 80s and 90s.

I believe I read somewhere, during the Jimbo Fisher era, they switched to how their helmets are prepared as well, and it's much more in line with how we do it, because they had the same problems.