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In the wake of the national champion Michigan Wolverines’ sign-stealing scandal, the NCAA is implementing a new set of technology rules for college football.
The new technology rules for college football, approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday, were announced in a press release by the organization on Friday.
“In games involving Football Bowl Subdivision teams, each school will have the option to use coach-to-player communications through the helmet to one player on the field,” the statement reads. “That player will be identified by having a green dot on the back midline of the player’s helmet.
“The communication from the coach to the player will be turned off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.
“For all three divisions, teams have the option of using tablets to view in-game video only. The video can include the broadcast feed and camera angles from the coach’s sideline and coach’s end zone.
“Teams can have up to 18 active tablets for use in the coaching booth, sideline and locker room. Tablets cannot be connected to other devices to project larger additional images and cannot include analytics, data or data access capability or other communication access. All team personnel will be allowed to view the tablets during the game.”
The committee also approved several other rule changes and/or making some experimental rules permanent.
They include adding an automatic timeout when two minutes remain in the second and fourth quarters, Division III games adopting the timing rules used in DI and DII where the game clock continues to run when a first down is gained in bounds, allowing conferences the option of using a collaborative replay review system, penalizing horse-collar tackles that occur within the tackle box as a 15-yard personal foul, and permitting head coaches to conduct interviews with broadcast partners after the first and third quarters.