A concern that was the hot topic before the Texas and Tennessee game has made a comeback. President Donald Trump is set to attend Alabama’s upcoming clash with Georgia at Tuscaloosa. His presence in the stadium could bring more than just extra attention. Given the possibility that his movement around the venue could affect communication, Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has already revealed how the Crimson Tide plans to handle the potential disruption.
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“Adapt and overcome,” Grubb said during a press conference on October 5. “Whatever it takes. We’ll be ready. We’ve got systems in place to take care of that, and we won’t make a thing out of it. We’ll be ready to go.”
The Alabama coaching staff is preparing backup plans for a potential wireless headset blackout during their game. You may wonder why the coaches are paranoid about losing communication if the president is in the stadium. The reason is simple: whenever the president changes location within the venue, there is a total blackout.
Secret Service electronic countermeasure protocols are designed to prevent remote threats so that the area does not lose its networks. However, these causational measures can even disrupt the coach-to-coach and coach-to-player communication during the game.
Before their Week 4 clash, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was worried about the possibility of losing comms. He brought up an earlier instance when this happened during the national championship game between Indiana and Miami.
Sarkisian said that the Miami coaching staff lost headset communication late in the 4th quarter. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti confirmed it but said that it was brief and happened on an earlier play than Sarkisian mentioned.
Both Texas and Tennessee coordinated with the Secret Service prior to kickoff to clear their specific radio frequencies. This pre-game preparation gave the coaches’ wireless headsets and the green-dot helmet communication systems in perfect condition. They even discussed the possibility of a time-out just in case something happens.
By the end of the game, there were no complaints or play-calling delays from either coaching staff. The only victims were ESPN’s Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. The audio went extremely static for TV audiences, so technical help was indeed needed.
Ahead of the kickoff, Georgia and Alabama may end up following what happened in Week 4 at Knoxville. Moreover, Kalen DeBoer and his coaching staff got a little trailer of the issue earlier in the season. During the third quarter of their game against Kentucky, QB Keelon Russell and OC Ryan Grubb lost connections.
“We had to get through that on the offensive side earlier this season, obviously against Kentucky,” Alabama football’s head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “That’s with Coach (Ryan) Grubb up in the booth. And so, with Coach Wommack being on the field, it’s a little bit easier to be able to work through. But both sides of the ball certainly talk about what we would do if those situations happened.”
What happened against Kentucky when Ryan Grubb lost his communication with the QB?
During the third quarter of Alabama’s 45-17 win over Kentucky on September 12, the coach-to-player helmet communication system completely went out. This cut off the direct audio line between offensive coordinator Grubb and Russell. Grubb noted that the system dropped out right in the middle of a critical scoring drive. It was a bit of a dicey situation for the OC.
“I’ll be honest, it was hard on the kid, and we were right in the middle of a scoring drive,” Grubb said on September 14. “It was difficult. We have operations and protocols in place to take care of that as far as signaling stuff with the guys, and we did, but not being able to, especially in that moment, be able to talk to Keelon was a little bit out of the norm.”
Given how Keelon Russell has played recently, it seems like the communication line between the OC and the QB is running as smoothly as it should. The Alabama QB1 has led the Tide to two SEC road wins. But now a tougher challenge awaits him against Kirby Smart’s Georgia, a team that Kalen DeBoer has gotten the better of in the regular season.