Tennessee used first scrimmage as ‘a trial run’ for college football’s new rules

Tennessee Football’s first scrimmage of fall camp Friday night inside Neyland Stadium including a test drive of the new rules in college football, including in-helmet communication between coaches and a player on the field and the use of tablets on the sideline to review in-game film.

Head coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference after the scrimmage that it was “a trial run” with the new rules in place for the scrimmage.

“The headset communication, we’ve been using that at practice as well as tonight,” Heupel said on Friday. “That was really pretty seamless. We used the iPads on the sideline as well (in the scrimmage).

“Tried to structure in some timeouts where we got a chance to figure out how we’re going to use it, operate it, all the logistics that go with it, which there’s a lot more than than we would think.”

Season Opener: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Chattanooga, August 31, 12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network

The Vols have a little less than three weeks to continue ironing out the wrinkles. No. 15 Tennessee hosts Chattanooga on August 31 in the season-opener at Neyland Stadium.

“Tonight was unique because it’s the first time for iPads on the sidelines,” Heupel said. “So we adjusted and tried to create TV timeouts where you had an opportunity to do that between your sets.”

In April the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved coach-to-player in-helmet communication to be used by one player on the field, with a green dot on the back of the helmet to signify which player is using the technology.

The communication from the coach to the player is turned off with 15 seconds left on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.

‘I’m more concerned about the coaches than I am the players, to be honest’

The Rules Oversight Panel also approved the use of tablets on the sideline to view in-game video only.

Teams can have up to 18 active tablets for use in the coaching booth, the sideline and locker room. The tablets can’t be connected to other devices to project larger additional images, according to the NCAA press release at the time, and cannot include analytics, data or access capability to other communication accesses. All team personnel can view the tablets during the game.

A two-minute warning in the second and fourth quarters was also approved.

Tablets are used on the sideline in the NFL and have also been used at the high school level. Heupel said Friday night that means the biggest adjustment will be for the coaches on Tennessee’s sideline.

“I’m more concerned about the coaches than I am the players, to be honest,” he said. “It’s a better tool than somebody having to draw something up on the whiteboard. So visual learners, it’ll be a good tool as long as you use it the right way as a coach.”

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