Among the preseason honors doled out at the Big Sky Conference’s Football Kickoff last weekend in Spokane came a couple bits of news.
The league, except for a program to be named later, will play a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026. And quarterbacks will have signals sent in via radio in 2025.
Both “advancements” got responses ranging from lukewarm all the way to tepid, depending on which in-state coach you talked to.
“I don’t think it’s anything earth-shattering,” Montana State coach Brent Vigen said of plays being communicated via radio. “It’s a different way to communicate, and probably a better way to communicate. You still need to make some plays and I think if you try to coach too much you can hurt some guys, too.”
The NCAA approved coach-to-play communication for college football; it’s one-way, from coach to player, and cuts off with 15 seconds left on the play clock – or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.
“I’ve never been a fan of adding technology,” Montana’s Bobby Hauck said. “I think it should be about the player making plays and the coaches planning.”
Then he added: “Who cares what I think. What is, is, right? I didn’t like the willy-nilly transferring with no penalty, either, but it doesn’t matter.”
Hauck, in his second tenure as the Grizzlies’ head coach, notes the days of sign-stealing accusations could be over. Unless, of course, teams still send in formations and calls via sideline signal.
“I’m interested to see how many people. … just stop signaling,” he said. “In the NFL, they huddle. It’ll be interesting to see how many people huddle. If they’re not huddling (read: playing the up-tempo offenses prevalent…
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Publish date : 2025-07-24 02:16:00
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