By Bruce Feldman, Sam Khan Jr., Justin Williams and Ralph Russo
The Big 12 Conference has instructed teams to return their coach-to-helmet communication equipment so that technological concerns with the product can be addressed before the weekend’s games, according to three teams in the conference.
According to several league coaches and administrators The Athletic spoke to on condition of anonymity for clarity about the issue, the concerns are related to the accessibility of the coach-to-helmet radio system that college football teams have begun using this season. A problem with the technology was discovered at the Texas A&M-Arkansas game on Sept. 28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Officials from all Power 4 conferences were alerted. Two Big 12 officials told The Athletic that conferences notified football staff at each school about the issue.
“There are concerns that others can listen in or access opponent (coach-to-player) comm,” a source at a Big 12 school told The Athletic.
Those concerns were again raised from Big 12 schools on Tuesday and so the conference then reached out to member schools to discuss them after word began to spread throughout the league, according to league sources familiar with those discussions. Teams were then instructed to return aspects of the coach-to-helmet communication equipment.
One Big 12 administrator said that the technology was being “encrypted.”
A person involved in the Big 12’s process told The Athletic that the conference is not investigating any accusations of cheating related to the helmet communications nor has one been requested by any members. An official at another Power 4 conference said they had notified their schools in the beginning of October and none have reported issues and concerns.
The Power 4 conferences are contracted with a company called GSC to provide coach-to-helmet communications. Messages were left with GSC seeking comment.
The conference is going to prioritize teams that play this weekend (10 of the 16 members) and hopes to have the equipment fixed and returned before Saturday, but it also instructed those teams to prepare a backup plan for play calls in case the fix isn’t completed in time.
After years of debate and delay, the NCAA football rules committee in the spring passed rules allowing a speaker in the helmets of the quarterback and one on-field defensive player — signified by a green dot sticker on the back of the helmet — after a successful trial run in some bowl games.
Similar to the NFL’s helmet communication system, which first began in 1994, the speaker in players’ helmets cuts off with 15 seconds left on the 40-second play clock.
Someone working in stadium operations and hired by the hosting conference is responsible each game for cutting off the helmet communication on each play, silencing the offense and defense’s systems simultaneously. Most coaches — usually the offensive and defensive play callers or the head coach — have a one-way walkie talkie patched into their standard coaching headset. Only one coach can communicate with the quarterback or defensive player at a time, but the rest of the coaching staff can listen in.
(Photo: Chris Gardner / Getty)
