Wireless, in-game communication originally slated for trial during the College Football Bowl games this month has been indefinitely put on hold. The NCAA football rules committee came to an agreement last February to allow the technology during this year’s Bowl games, excluding the Playoff games, but the program has been delayed due to disagreement between the technology subcommittee tasked with the initiative and several coaches.
The technology would replicate the NFL’s current system that has been on the field since 1994, allowing coaches on the sideline to communicate with the quarterback and one defensive player on the field. The system automatically shuts off when the play clock reaches 15 seconds but allows for pre-snap direction from the coaching staff – currently communicated by way of signs to hand signals by teams across the NCAA.
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This series of rather meaningless Bowl games would have been the perfect time to pilot the technology giving the NCAA another full year to comb through the details and prepare for full integration. Delaying the program this postseason means waiting an additional two seasons at best before full integration.
The lack of movement on this by the NCAA raises a compelling thought: if the NCAA can’t adapt and integrate technology in 2015, will it get too far behind and lose popularity down the road? We’ve seen this technology in the NFL for over 20 years. Instant replay was embraced in the NFL a full 30 years ago versus the NCAA’s 10 years. Recently, we saw drones enter the NFL conversation and take a step towards broadcast integration. Overall, the NFL has been adopting technology at a clip that far outpaces the NCAA.
Granted, the NCAA has far more coaches, more administrators, and less money to work with than does the NFL, but we often see the NCAA turning its back on technology more often than embracing. There are serious implications behind this. Sure – there will always be a world with college football. However, at the current rate of technological advancement the NCAA could be hard-pressed to compete against an NFL on pace to technologically dwarf their collegiate counterpart.
Most fans won’t care about a lack of in-game headset communication for a few more years, but as technology continues to evolve and begins to impact the way fans watch games the NCAA may be up against an entirely new challenge.