With a major change to college football coming in 2024 through in-helmet communication, coaches around the country have started to chime in on the details of the change.
The system has received mixed reviews, but the majority of coaches seem to support the new addition.
West Virginia’s Neal Brown spoke about how the change will clean up sideline antics among coaching staffs, telling On3’s Andy Staples, “I just think, if you look at our college sidelines, they look like clown shows right now. Different colored shirts, a bunch of people. The staff has become so big, and there are people that are just designed to do that. People have real systems. And so I think, man, we need to clean that up.”
While in-helmet communication rules allow for one player on offense and one player on defense to have a line of communication with the coaching staff, Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire pushed for more than one defensive player to have in-helmet communication. McGuire pitched the idea of three mics to the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which Texas Tech used in their Bowl Game, but the panel decided one was enough for now.
“They said they just wanted to get it passed, so they took the easy way instead of the right way,” McGuire said. “This didn’t eliminate signals at all. The bowl game was perfect. We still have to signal some stuff on offense and all our calls on defense. As you know, I think this is an absolute joke.”
Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin spoke on the change, saying, “It truly is like a cheat code. You’re getting talked to, you’re getting reminded of everything. Run, pass, gap splits, alignments, what to check to. So, it is a game changer, but I don’t know that you’re going to notice it as much.”
Fans will get a first look at the in-helmet communication system when teams take the field for the first time in 2024, a deadline that continues to approach.
