INDIANAPOLIS – College football is ready to ditch the signs.

Following a sign-stealing scandal that rocked the sport and loomed over Michigan’s 2023 championship run, the NCAA football oversight committee on Friday approved the use of coach-player helmet communications in games. games of the 2024 season.

Last month, the football rules committee made a recommendation to allow, but not require, teams at the highest level of Division I to use radio technology similar to that used by NFL teams.

Only one player from each team will be allowed to be in communication with the coaches while on the field. A green dot on the back of the helmet will be used to identify that player.

Communication from the coach to the player will be cut off when 15 seconds remain on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.

The rules committee had been moving toward coach-player communication in recent years, but it was slow to implement because of concerns that not all schools could afford it equitably.

During last year’s bowl season, teams were allowed to experiment with helmet communication if both parties agreed. But no team was forced to use it and that will be the case in the future.

Teams can still choose to signal on plays.

Sign stealing during games is not illegal under NCAA rules unless done through the use of electronic technology.

The NCAA investigated Michigan for using an elaborate impermissible in-person scouting plan to aid its sign-stealing operation. That case is ongoing, but the Big Ten punished the school by suspending then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season.

Michigan finished 15-0 and won the national championship.

The NCAA football oversight committee also approved the use of tablets to view game video in coaches’ booths, on the sideline and in locker rooms.

All team personnel will be able to see the tablets during the game.

The oversight committee said the rules committee will continue to examine the use of wearable technology that would also allow coaches to send play calls to the field through a small LED screen that could be placed around a player’s wrist.

Proposals for the experimental use of wearable technology must be submitted to the oversight committee by June 15.

The oversight committee also approved the implementation of an NFL-style two-minute warning at the end of the second and fourth quarters.