Head games: In-helmet comms proposed for FBS
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Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Writer
Technology in college football is finally starting to catch up to the NFL, as the NCAA Football Rules Committee on Friday proposed rules that would allow schools to use coach-to-player communications through the helmet to one player on the field.
That player would be identified by having a green dot on the back midline of his helmet, and the communication would be turned off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock or when the ball is snapped — whichever comes first.
The rule, which for now is limited to FBS teams, could go into effect for this season if the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approves it April 18.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart, the rules committee co-chair, said he doesn’t think there should be a “knee-jerk reaction” to the proposed technology rules changes because of the allegations of widespread sign stealing at Michigan this past season.
“That’s not what the sole intent was,” he said. “I’ve been on the rules committee now three to four years, and coach-to-player communication has come up every single year. It’s been talked about. We’ve been evolving, trying to get closer to it. A lot of coaches debate, talk about how this is not going to stop people from signaling, or having the big cardboard signs on the sideline.
“A lot of people have said it would take 11 headsets to take that way, or three or four headsets to take that away,” he said. “That’s not the intent. The intent is to get a little closer to what the NFL has done to allow communication. We don’t know where it’s going to take us, so we’re going to onboard one step at a time. It allows communication between mostly your quarterback and somebody on defense, and we’ll find out where it takes us.”
Smart said a lot of coaches have already tested the technology, and he expects “everybody in the country that plans to use it will be using it this spring, in some way, shape or form.” He said there will likely be experimentation with it in spring games, scrimmages and fall practices.
A.J. Edds, co-chair of the committee and vice president of football administration at the Big Ten Conference, said both teams won’t have to agree to using the technology before a game.
“We’re working through a date prior to the season where it needs to be understood who will or who will not — if anybody — won’t be using this,” Edds said, “so there’s a very clear line of delineation if there’s going to be an instance or multiple instances where teams may not use the technology. More than anything, it’s likely to be affirmative statements that teams and conferences will be doing this, but no mutual agreement is needed.”
The rules committee also proposed the use of tablets to view in-game video only — something all three divisions would be allowed, not just the FBS conferences. The video could include the broadcast feed and camera angles from the coach’s sideline and coach’s end zone.
Teams could have as many as 18 active tablets in the coaching booth, sideline and locker room, but they can’t be connected to other devices to project larger additional images. They also can’t use analytics, data or data access capability or other communication access. All team personnel would be allowed to view the tablets during the game.
The committee also proposed using an automatic timeout when two minutes remain in the second and fourth quarters — a move intended in part to help broadcast partners avoid back-to-back media timeouts. It would synchronize all timing rules, such as 10-second runoffs and stopping the clock when a first down is gained inbounds.
“This is not an additional or a new timeout,” Edds said. “This is a fixed position in the second and fourth quarters where media partners can reliably know they’re going to have an opportunity to take a media break. … This will hopefully give them a larger runway to get their breaks in over the course of the half, in the second and fourth quarters.”
The committee also proposed penalizing horse-collar tackles that occur within the tackle box as a 15-yard personal foul. Currently, such tackles are not a foul.
Mitch Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights — with an eight-year extension in place, sources told ESPN on Monday. Forward Nicolas Roy will go to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return.
Marner’s new deal has a $12 million average annual value, according to sources. Marner, 28, was the biggest name entering Tuesday’s NHL free agency, and multiple teams were hoping to make pitches. Marner was the NHL’s fifth-leading scorer last season with 102 points — 36 more than the next-closest free agent. The winger was drafted by his hometown Maple Leafs with the No. 4 pick in 2015.
The Maple Leafs knew that Marner was looking to test free agency at the end of the season. Over the past few days, Toronto worked with Vegas, which was Marner’s preferred destination, on a trade. The Maple Leafs held Marner’s rights until just before midnight Tuesday.
Had Marner become an unrestricted free agent, he couldn’t have signed a deal for more than seven years.
Marner finished a six-year deal that paid him $10.9 million annually. Marner, who played for Team Canada at Four Nations and likely will make their Olympic team, has 221 goals and 741 points in nine NHL seasons.
Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has stayed busy this week, re-signing John Tavares and Matthew Knies while trading for Utah forward Matias Maccelli earlier Monday.
Roy, 28, is a center who is entering Year 4 of a five-year deal that pays him $3 million annually.
Ahead of the Marner trade, the Golden Knights created cap space by sending defenseman Nicolas Hague to the Nashville Predators on Monday.
The deal makes Marner the highest-paid player on Vegas, however, center Jack Eichel ($10 million AAV) is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension this summer. The Golden Knights might not be done this offseason. According to sources, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is expected to go on long-term injured reserve, which could create more flexibility.
Sign-and-trades ahead of free agency are becoming a trend for NHL teams that know they will not sign their coveted player; last season, the Carolina Hurricanes dealt Jake Guentzel‘s rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning before he signed a seven-year deal.
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Ryan S. Clark
Hours after re-signing Aaron Ekblad, the Florida Panthers kept another integral piece of their Stanley Cup team by re-signing Brad Marchand to a six-year contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
Marchand’s deal has an average annual value of $5.25 million, sources told Kaplan.
Coming to terms with Ekblad on an eight-year extension worth $6.1 million annually left the Panthers with what PuckPedia projected to be $4.9 million in salary cap space.
There was the possibility that Marchand, 37, could have left the Panthers for a more lucrative offer elsewhere considering there were teams that had more than enough cap space to sign him.
Instead? Marchand, who arrived ahead of the NHL trade deadline from the Boston Bruins, appears as if he will remain in South Florida for the rest of his career.
Acquiring defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and then adding Marchand were two decisions made by Panthers general manager Bill Zito with the intent of seeing the Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup as part of a run that now has included three straight Cup Final appearances.
Marchand, who was a pending UFA entering the final day before free agency begins Tuesday, used the 2025 postseason to further cement why the Panthers and other teams throughout the NHL would still seek his services. He scored 10 goals and finished with 20 points in 23 playoff games.
For all the contributions he made, his greatest came during the Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Marchand, who previously won a Cup with the Bruins back in 2011, opened the series with a goal in the first three games. That includes the two goals he scored in the Panthers’ 5-4 double-overtime win to tie the series with his second being the game-winning salvo.
He scored two more goals in a 5-2 win in Game 5 that allowed the Panthers to take a 3-1 series lead before returning to Sunrise, Florida, where they closed out the series with an emphatic 5-1 win.
Capturing a consecutive title created questions about whether the Panthers can win a third in a row. But there was the understanding that it might be difficult given there was only so much salary cap space to re-sign Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand.
Knowing there was a chance they could lose one, or more, of them, Zito laid the foundation to retain the trio. He began by signing Bennett to an eight-year contract worth $8 million annually on June 27 before using Monday to sign Ekblad and Marchand.
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Ryan S. Clark
Ivan Provorov decided to forgo free agency, with the veteran defenseman finalizing a seven-year extension Monday worth $8.5 million annually to remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets, sources told ESPN, confirming earlier reports.
With free agency slated to start Tuesday, the 28-year-old was one of the most notable defenseman who had a chance to hit the open market.
Provorov’s decision to stay with the Blue Jackets comes shortly after it was reported that Aaron Ekblad also avoided free agency by agreeing to an eight-year extension to remain with the Florida Panthers. That now leaves players such as Vladislav Gavrikov, Ryan Lindgren, and Dmitry Orlov among the more prominent pending UFAs who could be available should they fail to strike a deal with their current teams.
Retaining Provorov comes months after a season that witnessed the Blue Jackets shed the title of being a rebuilding franchise to one that could challenge for the playoffs in 2025-26.
Four consecutive seasons without the playoffs created the idea that the 2024-25 campaign could be another challenging one. But a six-game winning streak in January saw Columbus post a 22-17-6 record to create the belief that a turnaround could be in order.
The Jackets closed the season with another six-game winning streak but fell short of the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot, which went to the Montreal Canadiens by two points.
Provorov would finish with seven goals and 33 points in 82 games while his 23 minutes, 21 seconds in average ice time was second behind Norris Trophy finalist Zach Werenski.
Re-signing Provorov comes in an offseason that saw the Blue Jackets also strengthen their bottom-six forward corps by adding Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche.
PuckPedia projects that the Blue Jackets now have $20.957 million in cap space ahead of free agency.
TSN was first to report news of Provorov’s decision.
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