NOTICE OF PROPOSED SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE.pdf

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

#SS 442

The University of Mississippi (UM) anticipates purchasing the item(s) listed below as a sole source purchase. Anyone objecting to this purchase as a sole source shall follow the procedures outlined below.

Commodity or commodities to be purchased (manufacturer, model, description):

Axiom and Speedflex True Football Helmets and components manufactured by Riddell All American Sports

The need to be fulfilled by this item(s) and why it is the only one that can meet the specific needs of the department:

As one of the top college football programs in the country, Ole Miss Football is continually seeking ways to improve player safety, especially in regards to head injuries. A scan-to-fit helmet provides the best possible fit, which is essential for player safety and performance. It provides the best available protection against head injuries by absorbing and managing impact forces while staying securely in place during play. Additionally, with the provided impact analytics, our staff can obtain useful data regarding contact and frequency of contacts that was previous unavailable. Overall, the right fit is critical to keeping athletes safe and the more data we can obtain, the better we can monitor their safety. The helmets and components that are scan-to-fit for each individual athlete are only provided directly from Riddell. These helmets also include data pertaining to impact analytics. Additionally, we require a customizable helmet that is certified for use in NCAA football games.

Name of company/individual selling the item and why that source is the only possible source that can provide the required item(s):

Riddell is the only company that can provide these types of scan-to-fit helmets with the impact analytics platform included for each helmet. No other vendor provides this precision fit and impact data.

Why the amount to be expended for the commodity is reasonable:

The spend for the year will not exceed $299,999 for the 3-4 helmet combinations throughout the year.

This is not significantly more than the department’s normal spend on helmets.

Efforts that the agency went through to obtain the best possible price for the commodity:

The Athletic Department worked with our Riddell regional rep to obtain the best bulk pricing available.

Submission Instructions and Format of Response from Objecting Parties:

Interested parties who have reason to believe that the item(s) above should not be certified as a sole source should provide information in the following format for UM to use in determining whether or not to proceed with awarding the Sole Source purchase.

1.1 Interested Party Information

1.1.1 Contact Name, Phone Number, Address and email address

1.1.2 Company Website URL, if applicable

1.2 Objection to Sole Source Certification

1.2.1 Interested parties must present specific objections to the Sole Source certification using the criteria listed above.

1.2.2 A statement regarding the Interested Party's capabilities as related to this Sole

Source Certification Request.

1.2.3 Comments will be accepted at any time prior to Monday, July 14, 2025 at 10:00 am (Central Time). Comments should be addressed to:

Jeff Wells, Procurement Manager The University of Mississippi Procurement Services 164 Jeanette Phillips Drive PO Box 1848 University, Mississippi 38677

1.2.4 Responses may be delivered by hand, via regular mail, overnight delivery, or e-mail at solesource@olemiss.edu with cc: to bids@olemiss.edu and must reference the sole source number.

1.2.5 UM WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYS IN THE DELIVERY OF RESPONSES. It is solely the responsibility of the Interested Parties that responses reach UM on time. Interested parties may contact Jeff Wells to verify the receipt of their responses. Responses received after the deadline will be rejected.

If after a review of the submitted notice and documents, UM determines that the commodity in the proposed sole source request can be provided by another person or entity, then UM will withdraw the sole source certification and submit the procurement of the commodity to an advertised competitive bid or selection process.

If UM determines after review that there is only one (1) source for the required commodity, then UM will appeal to the Public Procurement Review Board for approval to purchase.

mailto:solesource@olemiss.edu mailto:%20bids@olemiss.edu