'I'd love it': Dowell Loggains shares why headset communication would be good for college football

Sign stealing. It’s been the biggest story in college football for the last few weeks.

Every day, it seems like more news drops from the Michigan and Connor Stalions drama. But it does beg the question: should the NCAA allow headset communication?

If you ask South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, the short answer is yes. He’s now been through both sides of the spectrum after coaching in the NFL for 17 years, where headset communication can be used.

“I’d love it. I mean, it would be great to have the ability to get in Spence’s helmet and talk through things,” Loggains said. “I don’t think that people, unless you’ve done it, understand how helpful it is.”

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Communication between a coach and quarterback is nothing new at the pro level. In fact, the NFL adopted the rule back in 1994. Meanwhile, college football is still behind the 8-ball and teams have to rely on signals to call plays.

In Loggains’ opinion, it makes things a lot easier for play calling and prevents signs from being stolen.

“It’s not just the play call you’re getting; you’re getting information. You can give them a tip right here and the thing don’t cut off till 15 seconds. So you can put a running back out wide and motion them back in like, ‘Hey, you’ve got man coverage right here.’ You’re giving the quarterback information to the test. But you can give them information before the ball snaped and help them get through progressions and those things,” he said.

Before 2021, Loggains had never coached at the college level. The closest he got was when he was a player at Arkansas giving signals to the quarterback on the field. Once he got to the NFL in 2008, headset communication was what he learned to utilize.

Loggains found his way to college football as he joined Arkansas’ staff as a tight ends coach. He worked there for two years before joining the Gamecocks this year.

Now, he gets it.

“It’s a game within the game. It’s completely different than anything, it’s so foreign to the NFL,” Loggains said. “I think when Chip Kelly came to the NFL, they were doing it a little bit when he was with Philadelphia. But outside of that, we had signals that we would give our quarterbacks.

“In the NFL, you’ll see the quarterback walk up, or sometimes when it’s loud they’ll put their hands up — that’s the coaches talking to them. So it’s a completely different game, it’s a different layer of things. In some ways with high school and college, it’s part of our game. Once you get to the NFL, you’re used to it cause you’ve gone throuhg high school and college. When you go from the NFL to college, you’re like, wow.”

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What helped Loggains make the transition was being watchful as a position coach at Arkansas. He took in how other coaches on the staff gave signals and learned that way.

“You start to plan like how would I do things if I decide to become an offensive coordinator again and take over an offense? You take ideas from other people and you start worrying about other things that come with that,” he said. “So it’s a layer, a game within the game. You better have good plans. I mean, you see all the stuff, they got big things to hide signals so people in the box can’t see your signals and do all those things. It is a very big part of our game.”

At some point, the sign stealing saga at Michigan will be resolved and a decision will have to be made on what’s next for the sport. But Loggains understands how big a change could be.

“It would definitely change the landscape of the operation procedure as well in college football,” Loggains said.

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