What does Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy think of college football technology and rule changes?

STILLWATER – Mike Gundy is never short of opinions.

And this offseason, there’s no shortage of college football impactful rule changes.

So the Oklahoma State coach thinks about the new technology and guidelines coming to the game this season.

The three most notable rule changes are:

• Two-minute warning stops at the end of each half, like the NFL.

• Helmet communication devices for a coach to talk to a player on the field.

• Tablets on the sidelines for teams to review game videos.

Especially when it comes to using technology, Gundy has been a vocal advocate for improving what is available to college programs.

He suggested last year the need for an in-helmet communications system amid Michigan’s license plate-stealing scandal.

Still, he thinks college football has ventured into technological advancement a little too smoothly with its newest move.

Here’s a look at what Gundy had to say about the three main changes in question:

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Communication device ‘doesn’t do much’

Following in the footsteps of the NFL, college football will allow one player on each side of the ball to have a communications device on their helmet so the coach can speak directly to the player until the game clock reaches 15 seconds.

Gundy is excited about the introduction of the communication devices, but doesn’t believe the guidelines are broad enough to impact play or prevent sign stealing.

“In the NFL, they pile up on both sides of the ball,” Gundy said. “Colleges don’t pile up. So a headset on a player, in my opinion, doesn’t help much in college football on either side of the ball.

“Either a guy has to shout what he hears to everyone, which isn’t going to work in a big stadium with a college football atmosphere, or you go back to signaling. So I think it’s a step in the right direction, but I’m not sure we’ve taken the step that will end the problems that forced us into this situation.”

Gundy’s solution? Allow teams to use five communication devices at the same time.

“Your quarterback gets one and your offensive skill kids get one,” Gundy said. “So your quarterback will always tell the line what to do.

“On defense, you can give him two safeties, your corners and a linebacker, and he becomes the quarterback of the defense. That’s what I proposed to them, but I’m an elimination guy and solves problems very easily. I didn’t have to think about it. But they didn’t believe it.”

During spring training, Gundy used the devices on both sides of the ball. Obviously, quarterback was the option for the headset, but Gundy said the defensive decision was being studied.

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” he said. “We expected multiple ear protectors to be allowed. We had an argument about who gets it. I think on most college football teams it will be a linebacker or a safety.”

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Tablets, a necessary update

Again copying the NFL, college football will allow 18 video-capable tablets on each sideline so players and coaches can review just the video of the current game.

On NFL television broadcasts, cameras regularly capture players using handheld tablets on the sideline for a quick review session of the previous series.

“We’re moving toward the NFL in everything we do,” Gundy said. “With the technology and the two-minute warnings, and the paying players, we’re becoming an NFL minor league system, that’s basically what’s happening. Revenue sharing is just around the corner.

“Every position group and various other people — whoever they (NCAA decision makers) determine can have them — will use (tablets) just like you see in the NFL,” Gundy said. “When I watched my boys play football at school, they would go to the sideline and watch a 70-inch TV that they had plugged in and they could review their stuff.

“Now we’re getting to a tablet, but we can’t use anything other than that tablet.”

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Two-Minute Warning Adds Strategy

Another idea ripped from the NFL, college football will now have an automatic stoppage with two minutes remaining in each half.

It’s an interesting change considering last year’s move to shorten the game by eliminating certain late-game clock stop situations.

Previous changes made it easier for a winning team to run the clock down, but this will provide an additional stoppage without the team using a timeout.

“There’s some strategy involved in this,” Gundy said. “When you’re on defense and trying to get the ball back, you’re trying to use your timeouts and force them to use the two-minute warning as another timeout when the offense doesn’t want it. So there is some strategy involved in this.

“Change from last year, if you were behind by several scores with seven minutes left in the game, it felt like the clock never stopped. You were really in trouble. I think it will stay the same, with the exception of that timeout.”

This article originally appeared in the Oklahoman: What OSU football’s Mike Gundy thinks about 2024 tech, rule changes