As a new college football season draws near, one of the biggest rule changes for the upcoming year is the introduction of helmet-to-helmet communication between players and coaches during games.
For fans of the NFL, the rule change is nothing new: communication between a coach and the quarterback has been around since 1994, with defense joining the system in 2008.
The rule change largely stemmed from the Michigan Wolverines alleged sign-stealing scandal that became a major storyline of the 2023 college football season.
“I think the helmet communication will help tempo across college football,” Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff said. “When you think about it, even the quarterback doesn’t have to look to the sideline now, so basically he’s able to get on the ball.”
The system will give a coach the ability to speak to their quarterback until there is either 15 seconds left on the play clock or the ball is snapped. After those points, all communication will be shut off until the conclusion of the play. Only one player on offense and defense will have the system in their helmet at a time.
Along with this change, tablets will now be on all college sidelines just like they can be seen on the sidelines on Sundays in the NFL.
“I think it can certainly be a huge plus, but we gotta be efficient with it,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “Sometimes, in between drives, there’s only sometimes four, five, six minutes and so can’t necessarily be on those tablets, taking forever.”
Kentucky football got a chance to experiment with this new system in its bowl game loss to the Clemson Tigers at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
For players and coaches who were not on the team last year, this spring has served as the first opportunity to familiarize themselves with the technology with the first taste of it in live action coming in the team’s first scrimmage.
“I felt very good about the operation, with the communication with the quarterbacks and on defense, with being able to communicate with those guys,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said.
The tempo of the offense, which often used either the majority or all of the play clock last season, was a huge topic of discussion coming into the new year and the new rule might just help the Wildcats address it.
“Those are the things that we’ll be able to see with an extra set of eyes up top, being able to help with that and that happens so much faster,” Vandagriff said. “Maybe they can see leverage a little better if this guy’s up or if this guy’s back, but being able to just check really fast, if it’s an unfavorable look for a certain play, check, get in and out of stuff really fast, is something we’ve been working on.”
Beyond the actual field on game day, the connection system has shown to also be beneficial in a practice setting as well.
“Within our scheme, the helmet communications are nice,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White said. “On practice fields you can have multiple and so if a play happens I can just make a quick correction, you know, at that moment in his helmet, so that it sinks in the moment.”
As the new rule introduces a new way to communicate during the heat of battle, it will be something to watch all season across the sport and, in particular, in Lexington to see how the Wildcats utilize the system on game days.
Kentucky football will kick off its 2024 season at home on Saturday, August 31, against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. The game is set to begin at 7:45 p.m. ET and will air live on the SEC Network.
