Low-tech: College teams yet to embrace sideline computers

Two years ago, the NCAA passed a proposal that encouraged college football to embrace technology by putting tablet computers on sidelines and cameras in helmets.

Two years later, college football is still behind the times when it comes to using technology to coach players during games.

“If you look now at high school football, a lot of high schools around the country, a lot of states around the country, allow the use of iPads,” said South Dakota coach Bob Nielson, chairman of the football rules committee. “From a college standpoint, in terms of comparing what the NFL is doing and even what some of the high schools are doing, we’re just not doing anything with regard to technology on the sideline or in the press box.”

Progress stalled for two reasons:

Having heard about the glitches and shortcomings of the technology from their NFL brethren, some coaches were skeptical.

Figuring out how to pay for it and make sure it can work in an equitable way is no small task for administrators.

“I think the fact is the rule was ahead of the ability to adopt,” said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who heads the NCAA’s football oversight committee.

So for now everything is on hold.

“The (rules) committee completely backtracked,” NCAA coordinator of officials Rogers Redding said. “People are still saying what are we going to do? But nobody’s really pushing to do anything.”

Going forward, the NCAA football competition committee will take the lead on technology.

At minimum, Nielson said he would like coaches stationed in press boxes and on sidelines to have access to computer-generated video and images of the game.