If you weren’t a fan of the two-minute warning in the NFL, get ready not to like it in college football, either. Because that is one of two major rule changes, the NCAA approved for the 2024 season.
The NCAA announced several rule changes Friday, making the college game a lot more like the pro game. In addition to instituting the two-minute warning before the end of the first half and again before the end of the game, the NCAA will also make in-helmet communications between the sidelines and players a reality. So, just as in the NFL, where coaches can communicate directly with the player who has a green dot on their helmet, college coaches will be able to speak with a designated player on the field.
Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs calls out instructions in the second quarter against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
It also may not be coincidental that this rule change follows the Michigan sign-stealing scandal of last year, where the Wolverines were accused of sending advance scouts to the games of upcoming opponents to steal their signs. In-helmet communications will obviously render such a system useless.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines looks on in the first half while playing the Purdue Boilermakers at Michigan Stadium on November 04, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Under the new rule changes, college teams can also watch videos of game action on tablets on the sidelines.