If the expected vote goes through, college football is going to look — and function — a lot more like the NFL starting in the 2024 season.
After days of discussion, college football athletic leaders are expected to finalize a recommendation for the implementation of in-helmet communication technology, the use of tablets on the sideline and in locker rooms and a two-minute warning for the 2024 season, Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported.
The recommendation will be voted upon by the NCAA Rules Committee, and the recommendation will likely pass.
The recommendation comes after the ACC held its annual winter meetings in Charlotte last month, and as the league’s senior administrators met, the ACC agreed upon implementing both in-helmet technology and the use of tablets to help make in-game adjustments.
The in-helmet communication would follow the NFL model of having one player with in-helmet technology that allows communication with a coach up until the 15-second mark of the play clock. The use of tablets on the sidelines and in the locker rooms is pretty straightforward. And the two-minute warning will also follow the NFL’s model — stopping play at the 2:00 mark of either half, or after a play that begins just before.
Pat Narduzzi has long been an advocate for in-helmet communication, which has been utilized in the NFL for decades now, and it was once again brought up amid the Michigan sign-stealing scandal last fall.
“I think it would eliminate some of the signal stealing that we’ve had throughout the country,” Narduzzi said last November. “It’s been a hot topic, that no one can see what you’re saying unless they start reading lips but that’s why everybody is going to go like this and they can’t read my lips, either. But there’s a lot of that going on. It’s not just in one place. There’s a lot of it going on, and it’s been going on for years, so I think it would be great. They’ve got to find a way to use it.”
The NCAA allowed in-helmet communication devices to be utilized in non-Playoff bowl games last season, as a sort of trial run, and while Pitt obviously wasn’t able to take part, the test run worked well enough for the NCAA to likely adopt the technology going forward.
Narduzzi, back in November, also agreed with the idea of just one player having the ability to communicate through his helmet with the coaching staff.
“That’s, to me, the only way it would really work in college football because you can’t have five or six microphones — you can’t have something in everybody’s helmet,” Narduzzi said. “I just think that’s chaos. It would be nice if everybody could hear the call. That would be great on defense. If 11 guys have to have 22 or 30 guys on offense and defense, that’s a lot of mics, and I just don’t think — and someone’s mic is going to go out, and ‘I didn’t get the call, time out.’ But hey, huddle up. You’ve got 15 seconds to huddle, get your call in, make it fair, and then play ball.”
The ACC has approved the use of the technology initiative, and pending expected NCAA approval, it appears that Pitt will benefit in 2024. It certainly won’t hurt Kade Bell’s new up-tempo offensive scheme that is being installed this spring.
The technology initiative, which was approved by every ACC head coach, will be permissive and at each member school’s discretion.
Soon I’m going to be that weird old man at HS games. Well, I’m already old. Ugh.
But are you weird yet?
Not Sandusky weird, lol.