The Big 12 said Thursday that it has not found a single instance of teams’ helmet communications systems being compromised during the 2024 season.
Earlier this week, reports emerged that the communication systems between coaches and players are not encrypted and there were concerns about the ability of others to listen in. This season marks the first in which college football coaches will be able to relay plays to a quarterback and defensive player through headphones in his helmet, similar to the system used in the NFL for years.
“In response to industry-wide concerns surrounding helmet communications, the Big 12 conducted a review of conference games and helmet communications processes to address any concerns raised by member institutions regarding this issue,” said a statement to ESPN. “The evaluation showed that at no time was a Big 12 competition compromised.”
“All Big 12 helmet communications programs now have the encryption update from [communications provider] GSC, and schools may use CoachComm or GSC for coach-to-player communications at their discretion.”
All four power conference teams use GSC communications. The SEC had said its teams could update firmware to encrypt their communications. Frankly, it’s shocking that the communications systems weren’t encrypted at the beginning of the season.
SEC sent out a memo today alerting schools that if they wanted, they could send their equipment to the helmet communications company’s headquarters in Atlanta to have a firmware patch applied to it. League has reported no significant security issues with coaches’ equipment. https://t.co/YkVoBg8p9b
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 30, 2024
“We are aware of the issue and have remained in communication with the GSC and our fellow conferences, as well as our schools,” the SEC said in a statement to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. “We are not aware of any system breaches during games. GSC has developed an update to resolve the issue and we have made our schools aware of their ability to update their systems at a time of their choosing.”
The headsets are available for one offensive and one defensive player on the field and communication from the sideline stops with 15 seconds left on the play clock. The system was already in the works before the Michigan scouting scandal took over college football in 2023, when a former Michigan staffer plotted to steal teams’ signals through personal scouting.
