Cal, Texas Tech football teams eagerly deploy in-helmet communication

lubbockonline.com

01 January 0001

Cal, Texas Tech football teams eagerly deploy in-helmet communication

SHREVEPORT, La. — Players and coaches from the California and Texas Tech football teams are enthusiastic proponents of in-helmet communication devices they'll use Saturday in the Independence Bowl.

"We've been talking about this in our conference meetings for a couple of years," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said Friday. "I think it's great. We need to do it. We talk about being on the forefront of technology of college football; we need to be doing this."

The NCAA approved use of in-helmet communication this year for bowl games not part of the College Football Playoff. Mutual consent of both teams is required.

"It's been a blast," Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley said. "I love it. I think the NCAA needs to pass that rule, and I think it needs to be completely uniform across the NCAA. I'm a firm believer we need to be doing everything the NFL's doing."

Tech and California, both 6-6, face each other at 8:15 p.m. Saturday at Independence Stadium.

The NFL began using helmet radio equipment in 1994.

The NCAA football rules committee approved helmet communication for this year's bowl games in the summer, although it wasn't well known until October, around the time the NCAA launched an investigation into Michigan's illegal in-person scouting of future opponents to aid in sign stealing.

Cal, Texas Tech football players say in-helmet communication is the way to go

If the NCAA receives positive feedback, helmet communication could be considered for use more broadly next season.

Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a redshirt freshman, loves not having to decipher signals from offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch and quarterbacks coach Tim Plough.

"Our offense is very tempo-oriented," Mendoza said, "and when I'm able to hear the play and not even look over in the horizon for the signals, and also have two amazing offensive minds with coach Bloesch and coach Plough talking to me in the headset, it really helps my development and my comfort level as a young quarterback."

Tech coach Joey McGuire said the devices will be used on offense by quarterback Behren Morton and on defense by inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, boundary safety Julien (C.J.) Baskerville and free safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson. Both teams have had trial runs with them in pre-bowl practices.

"It's been amazing, honestly," Baskerville said, "for me being able to distribute the calls to the boundary side of the field and Rabbit (Taylor-Demerson) to do so to the field side. It makes things a lot more clear for us, rather than for all of us to try and look far over on the sideline. We could be in the boundary and our sideline is 53 (yards, the width of the field) or 30 yards away. It's been a lot easier, but you still have to communicate."

Safety Craig Woodson, a Texan from South Grand Prairie, will be one of the Cal defenders with in-helmet communication.

"For me, it's been great," Woodson said. "It allows me to play ahead of the snap, just because I don't have to look to the sidelines for the call or communication. I can see the formation, I can see the splits and I can be thinking about what I might get before the play happens. Just being able to see everything and get the communication in the helmet, I'm already one step ahead of the offense."

The challenges that come with in-helmet communication

Baskerville suggested players having instant communication with their coordinators could make the game more of a chess match — and more of a challenge.

"The quarterback is going to have a headset," he said, "so not only are we going against the quarterback; we're going against the OC (offensive coordinator), so we have to be as smart on our end, as they do as well."

Unsolicited, Wilcox and Kittley both brought up needing to avoid the temptation to overcoach.

"There's a line for how much info you give them," Wilcox said. "You know, 'Watch out for this. Watch out for that.' You watch out for 18 things. You don't want to paralyze them. Give them a call, maybe one quick nugget and that's it. Shut up and let the guys play. ... I'm trying to make sure we've protected them so they don't just hear a bunch of chatter."

Kittley said the devices will be live the entire time, not killed before the snap. He said he'd love to hit the speaker switch in live action and tell Morton where to throw the ball on every play or "hand it off, hand it off, hand it off."

"But I think it's really important for the game of football and where we're going, you've got the sign stealing thing going on and all that stuff and this is a way where you can take all that stuff away," he said. "Take away the board signs. Take away the curtains, all the hand signals. I think it cleans up the game and makes the game easier for everybody."