How college football teams are adjusting to new tech

WHEN VIRGINIA TECH coach Brent Pry first learned that college football would be adopting helmet communications, he reacted like someone used to doing his job well, without seemingly unnecessary tech.

“I was like, ‘Oh, God, we don’t need that s—,'” Pry said.

Pry soon recognized that the players, and even the assistants on his staff, likely would look at the technological additions — namely coach-to-player communications, and tablets for in-game video viewing — through a different lens. As the 54-year-old Pry put it, “They live in that world.”

College football has joined the tech world, introducing both helmet communication and sideline tablets as part of its rule changes this season. The additions make sense, as the college game has become more closely aligned with the NFL. Also, the sign-stealing scandal that engulfed Michigan during the stretch run of last season accelerated the need for alternative ways to relay signals.

“It would eliminate some of the other challenges that we’re reading about, or, you know, they’re on Netflix,” said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, referring to the Netflix documentary about former Michigan signal-stealer Connor Stalions.

College football is nearly a month into its technological revolution, and the results mostly have been positive. Teams have seen the benefits of communicating plays and other instructions to the “green dots” — players with green dots on the back of their helmets — and especially the tablets, which players flock to at the end of every series.

The new tech in college football also hasn’t come without some glitches. During a home game against Houston, Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold held his hands over the sides of his helmet, trying to hear the signals being communicated. Sooners coach Brent Venables later called the communications “a little bit inconsistent.” Hand signals and playcards are still being used to relay some play calls around the country.

“It’s like technology in any other aspect of life,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “It can be a real positive, it could be a real benefit, but it also can be a distraction and can cause some issues as well. Specifically on the defensive side of the ball, we had to kind of find the right thing for Penn State in terms of how we’re communicating, how we’re calling plays, how we’re using the technology, and that’s different than the way it is on offense. “

ESPN surveyed coaches and others about helmet communications and sideline tablets, both before the season and several weeks in, to assess the impact on preparation and in-game adjustments for offenses and defense.

How teams prepared for new tech

AS COLLEGE FOOTBALL coaches prepared to augment the way plays are communicated and analyzed during games, the reactions ranged from excitement to curiosity to skepticism.

Louisville coach Jeff Brohm, who played quarterback for five NFL teams from 1994 to 2000, welcomed the chance to communicate directly with his QBs during games. He saw clear benefits, primarily protecting play calls but also relaying reminders before the line cuts off with 15 seconds left on the play clock.

“If you don’t want people to know what you’re doing, the communication on both sides of the ball can be effective,” Brohm said. “The NFL has done it forever since I played, so I think it should have happened a long time ago.

“I’m all for anything that helps the game be played with more integrity.”

North Carolina coach Mack Brown leaned on three staffers with NFL experience — Freddie Kitchens, the former Cleveland Browns head coach, as well as Ted Monachino and Clyde Christensen. Brown asked them about the positives and problems of helmet communications, and anything he would need to be aware of once games kicked off.

Many coaches noted that teams built around no-huddle offenses had opposed helmet communications, recognizing the advantage they had when opponents had to use hand signals or cards for plays.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, who had a short NFL stint, operates an offense based around tempo. The Vols ranked second nationally in time of possession per play last season (21.6 seconds) and are tied for fifth nationally in offensive plays this season (310).

Still, he likes being able to provide Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava with some in-game reminders of things they worked on in practice.

“At the same point, you hit a point where you say, ‘I got it, let me go play,'” Heupel said. “You’ve got to be mindful of what’s in the mind of the quarterback.”

Coaches and coordinators spent a lot of time in camp determining what and how to communicate during games. Alabama practiced how to handle the 15-second cutoff on the play clock.

“You’ve got to give them the calls and help them out, but you want to make sure they can also play fast and aren’t thinking too much,” first-year Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said.

Despite Pry’s own initial suspicion about helmet communincations, he made sure that his 35-year-old coordinators, Tyler Bowen (offense) and Chris Marve (defense), used the tool in ways that suited their personalities and styles. Bowen mapped out play-calling possibilities and scenarios, while Marve looked more for what was most relevant in the moment.

“I told them, ‘Listen, this has to be organic. I don’t want anything force-fed for you guys or our players,'” Pry said. “The one thing I do know is it gives both sides of the ball a better chance to be lined up, make adjustments and have good awareness before the ball is snapped.”

Coaches anticipated clear benefits to helmet communications for offenses, especially those that huddled but still needed plays signaled in from the sideline. The impact for defenses, meanwhile, seemed harder to discern.

“Early on, I don’t know if the defense gets much out of this,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said in August. “You’re going to still see a lot of [hand] signaling.”

Miami defensive coordinator Lance Guidry guaranteed as much, noting that having only one green dot would hinder defenses against fast-paced offenses. Most defenses would give the green dot to a linebacker, but that player would still need to communicate calls both to the front and the secondary, often with very little time. The result would be traditional sideline signals, which could be tracked.

Guidry’s solution: A second green dot, which would allow smaller groups of defenders to communicate plays. There also could be benefits on offense, as helmet communication for the center, in addition to the quarterback, would help with line calls.

“College football is different,” Guidry said. “In the NFL, they huddle, so the defense is allowed to kind of semi-huddle, get the call and then communicate with each other. They go fast in college, so we ought to have two dots, because the game’s played differently on our level than the NFL level.”

How the first season of new tech is going

DURING A MARQUEE early season game, an offensive coordinator identified a particular defensive front, which required his offense to check to a different play. He communicated the check, but the mic to the quarterback had gone out.

Technological challenges have surfaced with the new tools, right from the start. Florida State coach Mike Norvell said Georgia Tech‘s helmet communications went down during the second half of the teams’ Week 0 opener in Ireland, which then required FSU to shut down its side.

“Every game, something’s happened, but we were able to get them corrected, a battery went dead one time, a wire came loose,” Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark said. “It’s still football, and we’ve coached a long time without the communications, and if something happens, we’ll go back to how we’ve always done it. …”

Most coaches say the helmet communications, and especially the sideline tablets, have enhanced the in-game operation. Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, who has spent his career at the college level, joked that the NFL has had “a cheat code” because it has used tablets for the past decade.

Previously, teams would have multiple staffers watching a play, but the interpretation still could be muddled and true corrections wouldn’t occur until after reviewing game film. When Miami’s offense comes off of the field this year, an analyst will bring a tablet to quarterback Cam Ward. Dawson typically gives Ward a minute or two, and by the time he approaches, Ward is already making corrections with his teammates.

“It’s changed everything with my approach to offense,” Dawson said. “You never get caught off guard. Before this season, there always was a little bit of gray area. Now, you just watch the play. You get [the corrections] in real time.”

Boston College coach Bill O’Brien, a longtime NFL coordinator, noted that adjustments still must be made.

“You’re getting a head start before halftime on what to do,” O’Brien said. “You can confirm it right away, and then you either stick with what you’re doing or you’re able to adjust.”

The benefits for offenses are undeniable. First-year Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has used huddling more this season than in the past, as veteran quarterback Kurtis Rourke can communicate play calls directly to his teammates. Cignetti said the sideline tablets “eliminate the unknown” and remove any inaccuracies from interpreting plays.

Bowen thinks the biggest plus of helmet communication is providing cues to quarterback Kyron Drones in certain situations, like the two-minute drill. Bowen also uses Drones to relay reminders to other players.

“Hey, remind your left tackle about his split, remind your receivers he’s got to cut his split here,'” Bowen said. “You can really cue him in and have him see the game the way our staff is seeing the game.”

Teams that primarily don’t huddle on offense are still using traditional ways to relay signals. But there are advantages for quarterbacks and coordinators even when the unit is operating quickly.

“While the receivers and tight ends and running backs are sitting there, looking to the sideline for signals, your coordinator can be talking to your quarterback literally the entire time,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “Everybody else is getting lined up, while the quarterback has a voice in his ear, telling him things to think about and reminders and checks and reads.”

Wilcox, a longtime defensive playcaller, thinks more green dots will streamline communication for both sides of the ball.

“You can’t huddle on defense if the offense is going to snap the ball,” Wilcox said. “With the signals and all came up in the past year, especially, but has been going on a long time, just give everybody a green dot, so all the players can hear the coach, and off we go.”

Defensive players still benefit from accessing sideline tablets. After Alabama’s 42-10 win at Wisconsin on Sept. 14, Crimson Tide linebacker Jihaad Campbell was asked about the big plays the defense had generated, namely four forced fumbles.

Campbell’s mind didn’t immediately go to a single moment or even a teammate.

“Having that iPad is really tremendously helpful,” Campbell said. “Because once you see that, you know, ‘I could have been in that zone a little bit more, I could have pushed into this window.’ Just thankful for those iPads.”

Why new tech is needed and what’s next?

SHORTLY AFTER BEING hired as Big Ten commissioner, Tony Petitti asked the league’s coaches if there were any tools present in the football world that could help them do their jobs better.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema, who spent three seasons in the NFL after being let go at Arkansas, recalled recruiting trips he had made as a college coach, and seeing high school teams using helmet communication and other technology resisted by the college game.

“I literally spoke up and said, ‘If there’s any way we could get in-helmet communication and sideline tablets, it would be the greatest thing you could do for our game,'” Bielema said. “…It just made too much sense. It makes the game cleaner.”

The Michigan situation accelerated the introduction of helmet communication, which was used for several bowl games after the 2023 season and gained formal approval in April. The idea had been discussed before but factors such as cost, equitable access and even liability delayed widespread implementation.

New tech, it seems, is here to stay, and the best coaches adapt to — and embrace — what is at their disposal. Some just aren’t overemphasizing the tools.

“I don’t think you want to get over-indulged in it, but I think that there is a place for it on the sideline for some light teaching,” Kelly said of the tablets. “Both of those [elements] will help the game, but I don’t think that they’re going to be such that they change the game in any shape or form.”

One key question going forward is whether helmet communications will actually help defenses, and if the way they’re used need to be customized for college football. A good chunk of college teams will rarely, if ever, huddle on offense.

Even when an offense huddles, the defense can be disadvantaged by the 15-second cutoff. An SEC defensive assistant has seen offenses dramatically change their looks after they know the green dot on defense can no longer hear from his coach.

“The real work doesn’t even start til after 15 seconds,” the coach said. “The shifts, the motions, the checks, it starts after that. And then when a team is going so fast, it’s hard to be able to communicate.”

Tennessee’s defense is off to an excellent start and veteran coordinator Tim Banks called the helmet communication “a great tool” to help during games. But like Guidry and Wilcox, he would like additional green dots, saying, “if you’re part of the committee that gets that done, we’d definitely love to have another one.”

Like any group adjusting to new technology, college football could make tweaks and adjustments. But helmet communications and sideline tables are seen as welcome additions.

“Both of the changes, having that info is really good, and allows you to coach better,” a Power 4 coach said. “You can get information that’s accurate, immediately, instead of having to piece it together sometimes. Whether you do a good job making the adjustments is up to you, but at least you know what the f— happened.”