College football helmet communication has occurred on unencrypted frequencies: Report

Among a slew of sweeping changes that have come to college football this season was direct coach-to-player communication.

What was widely praised as a long overdue reform has come with at least one technological concern.

The in-helmet technology that allows one player on the field to communicate with coaches — which helps relay play calls in a timely manner — has been occurring on unencrypted frequencies, according to multiple reports.

The development raises questions about whether discussions between coach and player that contain sensitive information from a competitive balance standpoint could have been compromised at some point two months into the 2024 season.

The Big 12 is reportedly not investigating any accusations of cheating related to the helmet software issues.

‘We’ve got to have a game whose integrity is not questionable in any way on a Saturday afternoon,’ Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said to ESPN. ‘We owe it to the 120 young men on our football team to ensure that happens, that it’s a game of fair competition and the same set of rules are enforced.’

In April, the NCAA football rules committee passed a measure allowing a speaker in the helmet of the quarterback and one on-field defensive player so those players can be in contact with coaches back on the sideline or in the press box. It’s similar to the helmet communication system the NFL has employed since 1994.

The move came after Michigan’s much-publicized sign-stealing scandal, in which Wolverines staffers or those working on behalf of the program allegedly attended games of upcoming opponents in person and filmed the sideline to record the team’s signals.

Rather than have coaches and players speak to each other through that helmet communication, college programs for decades instead relied on hand signals, gestures and large signs to relay a play call.