The NCAA Rules Committee has proposed five major rule changes that could become effective for the 2024 college football season.
While the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel must approve each rule change suggested by the committee on April 18, the proposals that will be discussed at the meeting have already been released to the public.
Which proposals are the most helpful or hurtful, and which are most likely to be approved for football in the fall? Let’s look at each suggestion and see which proposals will improve the game as a whole and which are most likely to be approved by the NCAA.
In-helmet communication 
NFL quarterbacks have been talking to their coaches through in-helmet communications systems since 1994, and NFL defenders have been doing so since 2008.
In 2024, the NCAA finally intends to catch up to the pros, suggesting in-helmet communication systems be installed into the helmets of a player on each team this fall. Those players would be identified by a green dot-like sticker on the back of their helmets, and their communication would cut off once the play clock hits 15 seconds or when the ball is snapped—whichever comes first—just like the NFL.
While coaches, players, talking heads and fans alike have expressed some hesitation following the sign-stealing scandal at Michigan last season, this one occurrence shouldn’t prevent college football from making technological improvements that better the game. 
“I’ve been on the rules committee for three to four years, and coach-to-player communication has come up every single year,” co-chairman of the NCAA Football Rules Committee and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “It’s been talked about. We’ve been evolving, trying to get closer to it. A lot of coaches debate and talk about how this is not going to stop people from signaling or having the big cardboard signs on the sideline.”
For some reason, some coaches value college football’s signaling and big cardboard sideline signs. If in-helmet communication won’t completely erase that aspect of the game, why do college football coaches worry about losing it so much? In-helmet communication will only help prepare the nation’s top leaders for the NFL.
“A lot of people have said it would take 11 headsets to take that way, or three or four headsets to take that away,” Smart 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.”
A.J. Edds, co-chairman of the NCAA Football Rules Committee and vice president of football administration for the Big Ten, suggests that some college coaches will choose not to use the new technology.
“We’re working through a date prior to the season where it needs to be understood who will or who will not — if anybody — 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.” 
Certain college football coaches who choose not to take advantage of in-helmet communication will likely only prevent their teams from competing at their fullest potential, locking them in the past. If you want to compete nationally in 2024, college football coaches better be willing to adapt to the new technology available to them this fall.
While it may take spring games, training camp scrimmages and many fall practices to get used to the new technology, approving in-helmet communication would be a massive step in improving the technology offered to coaches, players and programs at the collegiate level.
The Verdict: A resounding yes.
Sideline tablets
The NCAA Football Rules Committee also proposed using sideline tablets during games.
In this proposal, teams could have up to 18 active tablets across the coaching booth, sideline and locker room, but they can’t be connected to any other devices or have their screens mirrored to any larger screens or services.
The devices could only view in-game footage, including the broadcast feed and camera angles from the coach’s sideline and end zone. They wouldn’t be able to use or view analytics or have access to any data or outside communication. All team personnel, from coaches to players to staff members, would be allowed to use the devices in this proposal.
Like the in-helmet communication the committee proposed, this suggestion only helps the NCAA’s players better prepare for the pros, and there’s no reason not to give college football teams the same resources that NFL teams have access to.
The Verdict: Another resounding yes.
The two-minute warning 
Another proposal taken from the NFL’s playbook, the NCAA Football Rules Committee suggested an automatic timeout once the clock strikes two minutes left in the second and fourth quarters.
It would synchronize all timing rules, such as 10-second runoffs and stopping the clock once a first down is gained inbounds, both of which occur only within the final two minutes of each half. But what’s the NCAA’s reasoning for pitching this just now?
“The two-minute timeout will allow all end-of-half and end-of-game timing rules to be simplified and synch up with this timeout,” secretary-rules editor Steve Shaw said in the NCAA’s announcement. “This will also help broadcast partners to avoid back-to-back media timeouts.”
With ESPN’s recent $7.8 billion extension to televise the College Football Playoff through the 2030-2031 season, this is the NCAA’s way of showing its commitment to its broadcast partners.
“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.” 
The 2024 National Championship between Michigan and Washington attracted 25 million viewers and was the highest-viewed CFP National Championship since 2020’s matchup between Clemson and LSU. Viewership was up 45% year over year and 11% above 2022’s game, According to Amanda Brooks of ESPN Press Room.
The NCAA giving its broadcast partners a guaranteed media break near the end of each half will only make ESPN feel better about spending nearly $8 billion on college football’s expanded playoff.
“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,” Edds said.
While this idea was mainly proposed for the television and money side of the sport, it could also help keep college football games more competitive.
The two-minute warning acts as a free timeout; a team that’s trailing could use this to their advantage and have a chance to tie or even steal a game late.
Other than more commercials and advertisements for fans watching on television to sit through, there’s no reason for the panel not to approve the two-minute warning come April 18.
The Verdict: A net positive for nearly all parties involved.
Uniform violations
A more interesting proposal, the NCAA Rules Committee suggested warnings for uniform violations followed by a timeout for repeat offenses by any player on a team.
Teams without a timeout remaining would be assessed a 5-yard penalty. To avoid either punishment, the perpetrator must leave the game until the issue is resolved.
This feels a little over the top. Instead, the NCAA should choose to tackle this issue the way that the NFL does: Punish the rule offender individually based on the offense via a fine or a suspension, depending on the severity of the violation.
The verdict: The NCAA could tackle this issue in other, less severe ways.
Entirely banning the horse-collar tackle
Currently, horse-collar tackles within the tackle box, including ones involving potential passers, are completely legal in college football. The NCAA Football Rules Committee is looking to change that by assessing a 15-yard penalty for such an act.
The horse-collar tackle should be outlawed in football in 2024, and the NCAA has already outlawed ones that take place outside the tackle box.
The only question is why it took the NCAA this long to propose the complete banning of the horse-collar tackle.
Most of these tackles within the tackle box involve quarterbacks, football’s most important position. There’s no reason for the NCAA to have game leaders at risk of injury due to a dangerous tackle any longer.
The verdict: The NCAA’s prioritization of player safety is hard to refuse; it’s a yes.