Report: Big Changes Coming to College Football Including Player-to-Coach Helmet Comms System

Schools will also be able to use tablets on the sidelines and there will be a two-minute warning

Some big changes are on the way to college football according to Yahoo Sports Ross Dellenger. 

According to Dellenger, "Administrators on Friday are expected to finalize a recommendation for the adoption of a player-to-coach helmet communications system, the use of tablets on the sideline as well as in the halftime locker room and a two-minute warning in the college game."

This is obviously going to be a big deal. In the wake of the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, moving to a player-to-coach helmet communication system will allow coaches to communicate the plays to a player and not be at risk of the opponent stealing the sign for the play. 

Dellenger went into more detail about these changes: 

"The helmet communications system is, perhaps, the most significant technological change in recent college sports history. The concept will mirror the NFL. Only one member of each team can be equipped with a listening device in his helmet, and the device’s capabilities end at the 15-second mark of the play clock — a mandatory cut-off time that the NFL also uses.

Electronic tablets would be able to be used on the sideline and in the halftime locker room to review in-game video replays.

A break at the two-minute mark of each half is expected to also be part of the recommendation, something officials are referring to as a “two-minute timeout.” The break will operate in a similar capacity to the NFL’s “two-minute warning.”

For years hesitant to embrace these advancements because of cost-containment issues, college football is poised to adopt the helmet communications nearly 30 years after the NFL began using it and just months after a sign-stealing scandal erupted in Michigan."

While the move will not completely eliminate the sideline art of signing in plays, it is expected to greatly reduce it."

The landscape of college athletics is changing constantly nowadays, with NIL, Transfer Portal, and an expanded playoff, which might get to be 14 teams. Things are changing quickly and these new moves make college football more and more like the NFL than ever before. 

You can read Dellenger's full story here. 

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