NCAA approves coach-to-QB helmet comms next season

College football is ready to put the signs away.

Following a sign-stealing scandal that rocked the sport and hung over Michigan’s championship run in 2023, the NCAA’s football oversight committee approved Friday the use of coach-to-player helmet communications in games for the 2024 season.

The football rules committee last month made a recommendation to allow — but not require — teams at the highest tier of Division I to use radio technology similar to what NFL teams use.

Only one player for each team will be permitted to be in communication with coaches while on the field. A green dot on the back of the helmet will be used to identify that player.

The communication from the coach to the player will be turned off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.

The rules committee had been moving toward coach-to-player communication in recent years, but it was slow to be implement because of concerns that not every school could afford to do it in an equitable way.

During last year’s bowl season, teams were permitted to experiment with helmet communication if both sides agreed to it. 

The oversight committee said the rules committee will continue to examine the use of wearable technology that would also allow coaches to send in play calls to the field through an small LED screen that could be wrapped on around a player’s wrist.

Proposals for experimental usage of wearable tech much be submitted to the oversight committee by June 15.

The oversight committee also approved implementation of an NFL-style two-minute warning at the end of the second and fourth quarters.




A Houston Texans staff member tests the helmet radio system before a game. The NCAA’s football oversight committee has approved the use of coach-to-player helmet communications in games for the 2024 season. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith, File)