Penn State had problems with its communications equipment during last week’s game against Wisconsin, and head coach James Franklin said the sideline lost contact with coordinators and players on the field in the fourth quarter. Coach and player communication equipment has become an issue in the college football world, as ESPN and The Athletic reported Wednesday that Big 12 teams will return the equipment to address “technical concerns.”
After Wednesday’s practice at State, Coach Franklin said the sideline coaches were either coordinators Andy Kotelnicki and Tom Allen in the press box, or quarterback Bo Pribula and middle linebacker Kobe on the field. He said he was unable to contact King. Pribula and King wore earphones in their helmets through which the coach relayed play calls. Franklin said the power outage occurred in the fourth quarter of the Nittany Lions’ 28-13 win over the Badgers. It’s an issue Penn State hopes to fix before Saturday’s game against No. 4 Ohio State at Beaver Stadium.
“Last week, we lost contact with Booth at the end of the game, so we weren’t able to reach the coordinator at the end of the game, and we weren’t able to communicate with the quarterbacks and linebackers on the field,” Franklin told reporters. . “We thought of a solution and worked on it, but the problem arose at a very important moment after the end of the game.”
When asked how long the problem lasted, Franklin replied, “If it’s one play, that’s too many plays.”
Penn State’s problems were different from those of other programs reporting concerns about the technology. According to The Athletic, Big 12 officials asked teams to return helmet-worn devices from coaches due to concerns about encryption. According to a reporter for The Athletic, teams believe others may be able to hear in-game conversations.
Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt told ESPN he learned that the football team’s conversations during games could be accessed by anyone with a scanner. Hocutt told ESPN that it’s about running a game where “there’s no question of its integrity on a Saturday afternoon.”
Penn State has had issues with its in-helmet communications system this season, but it doesn’t appear to be related to encryption. In West Virginia’s opening game and the home opener against Bowling Green, Franklin said Penn State’s defense had problems with the sound. Penn State partially solved that problem by moving defensive coordinator Allen to the coaches booth and letting defensive analyst Dan Conner call plays for the linebackers.
“I think the other big thing that came down to it in the second half (against Bowling Green) was communication,” Franklin said in September. “We were specifically trying to rely on headset communication, which can be a little difficult at home because the linebackers are trying to verbally communicate with all 11 guys on the field. It’s very similar to what we did. It was still difficult for the offensive team to try to get the quarterback to communicate with everyone.”
This is the first season in which college football teams can use communication equipment between coaches and players to make play calls. Franklin said it’s unclear whether the technology can curb the sign-stealing concerns it was originally intended to address.
“What’s interesting is that everything was forced because of the sign-stealing (issue). For a no-huddle offense, that’s no different at all,” Franklin said before the season. “Because you have to get the information to the wide receivers. How do you do that? You send a signal. Do you think it would be better to have a helmet mic? That’s a nice change, but not necessarily I don’t know if I need to.” There are solutions to some of the challenges out there. ”
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Penn State on SI is your destination for Pennsylvania news, opinion and perspectives on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles, and an impressive catalog of articles. Follow him on X (or on Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.
