Oakley’s Sports Marketing Grows

Oakley Inc. is boosting marketing at its newest acquisition, One Xcel, a maker of protective face shields for football and hockey helmets.

The Foothill Ranch sunglasses maker this month added two positions to its sports marketing group. Bobby Harshfield, who has been with Oakley for two years, will work the hockey side, while Jerrott Willard, a former standout linebacker at Cal, will work the football side.

“Sports marketing plays a key role in how we position the product in different sports so that it can be recognized,” said Scott Bowers, Oakley’s sports marketing director. Willard’s and Harshfield’s jobs will be to “develop relationships with individual players that wear, or have a chance to wear, our product.”

Prominent NFL players who wear Xcel shields include running backs Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions, Napoleon Kaufman of the Oakland Raiders and Natrone Means of the Carolina Panthers. In the NHL, the best-known Xcel user is Montreal Canadien forward Valerie Buri.

The shields sell for about $55 at sporting good stores such as Chick’s and Oshman’s.

Willard, a grandson of Carl’s Jr. founder Carl Karcher, is a familiar name in Orange County sports. A two-way standout at Corona del Mar High, Willard had a stellar career at Cal, where he led the Pac 10 conference in tackles in 1992 and 1993. He also was named a second-team all-American and was a semi-finalist for the Butkus and Lombardi awards, which honor the best collegiate linebacker and lineman.

He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1995 and made the team, but bad knees confined him to the physically-unable-to-perform list for the entire season. After seven knee surgeries (four on his left knee, three on the right), Willard retired last year at age 24 on his doctor’s advice.

“As an ex-athlete, he brings authenticity to the table,” Bowers said. “He’s not just another suit coming along trying to push a product on players.”

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Russ Stanton covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5609 and at russ.stanton@latimes.com