NCAA opens up Technology for College Teams
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NCAA opens up Technology for College Teams was created by wvu4u2
WVU football: Brown welcomes coach-to-helmet contact for calling plays
By Greg Hunter BlueGoldNews.com Jan 8, 2024 Comments
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Modern technology was in full use during the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and it had nothing to do with postgame mayonnaise dump on West Virginia coach Neal Brown following WVU’s 30-10 victory over North Carolina.
This year the NCAA gave permission for teams to use computer tablets on the sidelines and for coach-to-player helmet communication on the field during bowl games.
The Cleveland Browns, under future Hall of Fame head coach Paul Brown, first used a radio receiver in the helmet of quarterback George Ratterman for a few games in 1956 before the NFL banned such communication for most of the next four decades, and although the NFL has allowed one-way helmet communication with quarterbacks since 1994 and with a designated defensive player since 2008, the NCAA had not followed that path until this season’s bowl games.
The NCAA has not yet passed a permanent rule to allow helmet communication and sideline tablets, which have also been commonplace in the NFL since 2014, in the future.
The helmet communication has gained more and more advocates among college coaches since Michigan was accused of signal stealing this past season.
Not every postseason qualifier decided to take advantage of the high-tech opportunity, though both the Mountaineers and Tar Heels did in Charlotte, and while the in-game technology took some getting used to by all those who took advantage of the opportunity, it seemed to be well received.
“I think it’s a positive movement. It helps,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown after his team’s bowl win. “It lowers the ability to steal signals and some of those things that really don’t have a purpose in the game.
“This was experimental. I actually forgot about it until about the second series of the game. I was like, ‘Oh, I can talk to him [WVU QB Garrett Greene].’”
“We had the coach-to-quarterback communication and coach-to-linebacker communication, and it’s the first time we’ve ever done that,” explained UNC’s 72-year-old head coach Mack Brown, who entered the college coaching profession in 1973. “I thought it worked pretty well.
“There were a few times when Conner [Harrell, North Carolina’s quarterback] would say, ‘Say it again,’ because we hadn’t done it before.
“I thought it helped, and I thought the fact that we were able to use the iPads on sideline helped some, though I think that will be a bigger help in the future.
“We weren’t able to practice with those because we didn’t have the setup for that at home [in Chapel Hill] or at Providence Day [the Tar Heels’ Charlotte-area practice site]. In time, though, I think all that will be a big help.”
After this year’s bowl experiment, it would seem very likely that the college athletic governing body will permit such tech gear — at least the FBS ranks — fairly soon, possibly even next fall.
The Mountaineers, who finished the 2023 season 9-4, have used some coach-to-player helmet communication in practice for the last couple of years, but its use in a game, as well as that of the sideline tablets, was new territory.
“We used the iPads a little bit [in the bowl game], but we don’t use them wholesale,” Brown said. “We had been playing pretty good lately, winning five of our last six including this game, so we didn’t want to just wholesale change what we were doing.”
“As you all know, there is a lot going on in December,” in terms of not just bowl prep but also with signing day for recruits and the portal opening for both outgoing and incoming transfers, Brown added, “so it wasn’t like we had a whole lot of time to get trained and think about how we were going to handle the technology.
“But I like it; we just have to figure out what the rules are going to be.”
see more at WV Gazette. com
By Greg Hunter BlueGoldNews.com Jan 8, 2024 Comments
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Modern technology was in full use during the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, and it had nothing to do with postgame mayonnaise dump on West Virginia coach Neal Brown following WVU’s 30-10 victory over North Carolina.
This year the NCAA gave permission for teams to use computer tablets on the sidelines and for coach-to-player helmet communication on the field during bowl games.
The Cleveland Browns, under future Hall of Fame head coach Paul Brown, first used a radio receiver in the helmet of quarterback George Ratterman for a few games in 1956 before the NFL banned such communication for most of the next four decades, and although the NFL has allowed one-way helmet communication with quarterbacks since 1994 and with a designated defensive player since 2008, the NCAA had not followed that path until this season’s bowl games.
The NCAA has not yet passed a permanent rule to allow helmet communication and sideline tablets, which have also been commonplace in the NFL since 2014, in the future.
The helmet communication has gained more and more advocates among college coaches since Michigan was accused of signal stealing this past season.
Not every postseason qualifier decided to take advantage of the high-tech opportunity, though both the Mountaineers and Tar Heels did in Charlotte, and while the in-game technology took some getting used to by all those who took advantage of the opportunity, it seemed to be well received.
“I think it’s a positive movement. It helps,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown after his team’s bowl win. “It lowers the ability to steal signals and some of those things that really don’t have a purpose in the game.
“This was experimental. I actually forgot about it until about the second series of the game. I was like, ‘Oh, I can talk to him [WVU QB Garrett Greene].’”
“We had the coach-to-quarterback communication and coach-to-linebacker communication, and it’s the first time we’ve ever done that,” explained UNC’s 72-year-old head coach Mack Brown, who entered the college coaching profession in 1973. “I thought it worked pretty well.
“There were a few times when Conner [Harrell, North Carolina’s quarterback] would say, ‘Say it again,’ because we hadn’t done it before.
“I thought it helped, and I thought the fact that we were able to use the iPads on sideline helped some, though I think that will be a bigger help in the future.
“We weren’t able to practice with those because we didn’t have the setup for that at home [in Chapel Hill] or at Providence Day [the Tar Heels’ Charlotte-area practice site]. In time, though, I think all that will be a big help.”
After this year’s bowl experiment, it would seem very likely that the college athletic governing body will permit such tech gear — at least the FBS ranks — fairly soon, possibly even next fall.
The Mountaineers, who finished the 2023 season 9-4, have used some coach-to-player helmet communication in practice for the last couple of years, but its use in a game, as well as that of the sideline tablets, was new territory.
“We used the iPads a little bit [in the bowl game], but we don’t use them wholesale,” Brown said. “We had been playing pretty good lately, winning five of our last six including this game, so we didn’t want to just wholesale change what we were doing.”
“As you all know, there is a lot going on in December,” in terms of not just bowl prep but also with signing day for recruits and the portal opening for both outgoing and incoming transfers, Brown added, “so it wasn’t like we had a whole lot of time to get trained and think about how we were going to handle the technology.
“But I like it; we just have to figure out what the rules are going to be.”
see more at WV Gazette. com
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