College football may soon get helmet-to-helmet communications after the NCAA successfully tested the technology in a number of bowl games.
According to CBS Sports, the NCAA Football Rules Committee this week is likely to propose the use of coach-to-player sideline communications, which will allow coaches to talk to players via wireless helmet technology, which has been used by the NFL since 1994.
NFL defensive players began using the technology in 2008, and tablets debuted on NFL sidelines in 2014.
"Instead of stealing signs, you'll be worried about stealing my frequency," one former Power Five official told CBS in jest.
The NCAA's application of the technology will be a bit more complicated than the NFL's process. There are 134 FBS schools with varying budgets. The NCAA will also have to clear helmet modifications for safety, as each helmet enabled with the technology will need an added credit card-sized receiver.
"Especially at the FBS level there is a really big desire to really see if we can push this forward," said Steve Shaw, NCAA secretary-editor of the rules committee. "We had all the FBS football administrators in, and we really talked through technology. There seems to be at least -- at those 10 FBS conferences – [that] desire to make this thing work. It's kind of maybe unprecedented."
The Big Ten has championed the technology, sending a letter to the NCAA ahead of last season requesting to use the technology. The NCAA rejected that request, but allowed for the technology to be tested during bowl season.
"We want this to be a single unified solution start to finish," said AJ Edds, Big Ten vice president of football operations. "Schools can determine, conferences can determine if this is in a priority. The feedback we had was extremely positive."
Shaw estimates the technology will cost around $40,000 to $50,000 per school to implement.
"The biggest issue of all with this is scope and scale," Shaw said. "If we open this up, then are there going to be 130 [FBS] teams that want to do it. Do we have enough product that can get 130 teams covered?"
