The NCAA announced a set of rule changes Thursday that will make college football similar to the NFL. Adding the two-minute warning and coach-to-player helmet communications at the FBS level. Also, sideline tablets will be permitted for all three NCAA divisions.
Like the NFL, the clock will stop with two minutes left in the 2nd and 4th quarters. The biggest adverse from fans about adding the two-minute warning to college football would be the possibility of TV adding an extra commercial to each half. According to multiple reports, adding extra commercials is not the plan.
Helmet communication rules will be very similar to the NFL. Only one player for each team will be permitted to be in communication with coaches while on the field. A green dot on the back of the helmet will be used to identify that player.
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.
The rules committee had been moving toward coach-to-player communication in recent years, but it was slow to be implement because of concerns that not every school could afford to do it in an equitable way.
For K-State, using helmet communication is still a work in progress.
During last year’s bowl season, teams were permitted to experiment with helmet communication if both sides agreed to it. But no team was forced to use it and that will be the case going forward.
Teams can still chose to signal in plays.
Sign stealing during games is not illegal under NCAA rules, unless it is done with the use of electronic technology.
The NCAA investigated Michigan for using an elaborate impermissible in-person scouting scheme to aid its sign-stealing operation. That case is ongoing, but the Big Ten punished the school by suspending then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season.
Michigan finished 15-0 and won the national championship.
