Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King was struggling to hear his offensive coordinator during Saturday’s college football game against Florida State on Saturday. If crowd noise was an issue in Ireland, the new helmet communication system is going to cause chaos back home in the United States.
How are the signal-callers going to get the signals to call?!
King, a fifth-year senior, began his career in the SEC with Texas A&M. The Aggies have one of the most passionate fanbases in the country. They pack Kyle Field to the brim every single weekend, regardless of their team’s record. The stadium in College Station is always rocking.
On the contrary, the Yellow Jackets and Seminoles played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin to begin the season. It was a max-capacity sellout of 50,000. Most of them flew over the pond from Tallahassee.
There were multiple instances during which King struggled to hear the coach in his helmet over the war chant. He had to cover up the ear holes to get the call on more than one drive throughout the game.
That was with no more than 52,000 people in the crowd!
Kyle Field fits 102,000. Doak S. Campbell Stadium, home of Florida State, holds about 80,000. Vanderbilt is the only team in the SEC with a max capacity of less than 50,000— on par with Ireland.
If King was struggling to hear over the relatively small amount of people in Dublin, imagine what it will be like when plays at Georgia in November. Good luck…
The Southeastern Conference crowds are going to be loud. Quarterbacks are going to have a very hard time hearing anything.
It was long overdue for college football to adopt in-helmet communication systems like the National Football League. Gone are the days of elaborate sign-stealing scandals, thanks to Michigan.
Offenses are going to run with increased efficiency— until the quarterback can’t hear the play over a raucous SEC crowd on third-and-long during the fourth quarter of a one possession game, that is! Haynes King’s struggle with the helmet comms in Ireland is only a taste of the chaos to come.