LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — College football’s finances and conference infrastructure are changing rapidly and have been for some time, but two new changes on the field will impact college football next season.
Teams will be able to communicate with their offensive and defensive captains via helmet-mounted devices, as the NFL has done for some time, and in-game video replays will be available to coaches on the sidelines during games via iPads or other tablet technology.
Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said his staff is making good progress on all of this, especially praising the use of in-helmet communication, saying it was about time it was implemented. He speculated that the recent reports surrounding the sign-stealing scandal may have been a big motivator for the change.
“The fact that it took so long for the earpiece to be adopted in college football was shocking to me because it was in the NFL when I was playing, and that was a long time ago,” Brohm said. “You know, with the sign stealing going on, I think this is important if you want to prevent people from stealing your signs. … So I think this will help curb sign stealing. Are there teams that are going to take advantage of this more than other teams? Probably the no-huddle teams, the teams that haven’t used it before. So you have to use it to your advantage.”
When asked how widespread sign stealing is, Brohm couldn’t say, but noted it does happen, most notably the University of Michigan being sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference after a high-profile incident last season.
“Sign stealing is a big part of college football, and if someone is willing to do it, it’s not as hard as you think,” Brohm said. “I was in the ACC and the Big Ten, so I know it happens, so there are mechanisms in place to control it. If you’re going to use signs, there are methods you should use and if you don’t want someone to steal your signs, you’d better have a plan for it.”
Brohm said the staff is still evaluating the extent to which it will utilize sideline video technology.
“When it comes to iPads, we’ve been using still photography in the NFL for years now,” Brohm said. “The iPads are something that can capture video of what’s actually happening. They can be used on the sidelines, they can be used in the press box. I think they can be useful. Right now they’re not expected to be used in the locker room, but I think they can adapt and adjust.”
One change Brohm isn’t sure about was proposed during his participation in ACC media day earlier this week: A proposal is reportedly being considered to increase football’s new scholarship limit from 85 to 105. That would be a big jump for a sport that already has the most players in college sports.
“Right now we have a large number of walk-ons, 85,” Brohm said. “My biggest concern is, how does that impact our walk-ons? Do we give them scholarships or do they have to go somewhere else? It’s a little unfortunate, but we’ll have to see how things go. We understand changes are coming and we’ll have to adapt to that. There’s also going to be roster caps, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. You have to be concerned that if the roster expands to the number of scholarship players, other teams are going to try and take more guys, because right now in college football, that guard pool isn’t great. So, it’s a concern, but we’ll adapt and we’ll adjust.”
Louisville is scheduled to open preseason camp with an open practice on Wednesday at 2:45 p.m.
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