Big 12: No foul play with unsecured helmet comms

The Big 12 determined Thursday that none of its games were compromised by unencrypted frequencies used with coach-to-player in-game communications this season.

Sources told ESPN on Wednesday that the coach-to-player communications for all Power 4 college football games this season have been on unencrypted frequencies, and Texas Tech requested a report from the Big 12 on its recent games against TCU and Baylor — both losses — to ensure the integrity of the games were not compromised.

Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he raised the issue during a call with Big 12 athletic directors Tuesday, after learning that anyone with a scanner and knowledge of how to locate the frequencies had access to those in-game communications.

“Following the industry-wide concerns surrounding helmet communications, the Big 12 conducted a review of conference games and helmet communications processes to address any issues member institutions raised regarding this matter,” the Big 12 said in a statement issued Thursday. “The review showed that at no point was any Big 12 competition compromised.”

Texas Tech said in a statement Thursday that it “accepts the conclusion of the Big 12’s review” and that it would have no further comment on the matter.

In addition, all Big 12 helmet communication programs now have the update from GSC that provides encryption, and schools may use either CoachComm or GSC for coach-to-player communication at their discretion.

GSC is the helmet communication device provider for all 68 teams in Power 4 conferences this season.

“We’ve got to have a game whose integrity is not questionable in any way on a Saturday afternoon,” Hocutt told ESPN on Wednesday. “We owe it to the 120 young men on our football team to ensure that happens, that it’s a game of fair competition and the same set of rules are enforced.”

The revelation that college football teams have not been using encrypted frequencies has frustrated several Big 12 athletic directors, who believed the Power 4 schools had the same encrypted setup used in the NFL, sources said.

This is the first college football season that the in-game use of coach-to-player helmet communications and tablets has been permitted at the FBS level. The NCAA approved the rules change in April, six months after launching an investigation into Michigan‘s alleged signal-stealing scheme under former staffer Connor Stalions.

Football operations executives for the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten and ACC have worked together with GSC in the four weeks since to investigate potential concerns and move to a more encrypted and secure platform.

Texas Tech (5-3, 3-2) opted to move forward with a different coach-to-player system with encrypted communication provided by CoachComm for its game against No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday, sources said.

A source at one Big 12 school told ESPN that his staff purchased a scanner earlier this month upon learning of the potential vulnerability and was successful in locating their own coach-to-player communication frequency during a practice.

The frequency does not broadcast all headset communications between coaches, which would be invaluable, but merely what one coach says to one player on the field — typically a quarterback on offense and a linebacker on defense — and only when the coach is holding the button to speak to them before communication is cut off 15 seconds before the snap.

“There’s no real advantage,” one Big 12 chief of staff argued. “One, you’re speaking a different language. Two, if you think you’d be able to enact in real time what they say and try to do it on the field, you’re delusional. You’re just being your stereotypical paranoid football coach. You can’t relay it to the kids fast enough.”