Get to know the 6 new college football rules ahead of the 2024 season

Georgia was one of the most dominant teams of the four-team College Football Playoff era, winning back-to-back national titles, and the Bulldogs were just an SEC Championship game loss away from a potential three-peat last season. Now, the sport has changed, the SEC has grown and so has the playoff, but those aren’t the only big changes coming to college football this fall. 

Six new rule changes are coming to the sport in the 2024 season, so with Week 0 less than a month away, it’s to get familiar with them. 

1. Two-minute warning

The two-minute warning is coming from the NFL to college football and will be utilized in the same fashion. The clock will stop with two minutes remaining in the second and fourth quarters. Unlike the NFL, after the two-minute warning, the clock will stop after every first down. 

The two-minute warning will serve to alleviate back-to-back TV timeouts and will hopefully speed up the glacial pace of college football games. 

2. In-helmet communication

After Michigan’s championship season was marred by a sign-stealing scandal, the NCAA has officially adopted some modern technology to avoid this problem in the future. College football will finally allow in-helmet communications. 

Each team will have one player with one-way communication in their helmet to hear play-calls from the coaching staff and they will be identified by a green dot on their helmet. The communication will cut off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock. 

Teams do not have to use in-helmet communication, but even if your opponent opts not to, you are still permitted to. 

3. Tablets for in-game video review

In-helmet communication isn’t the only thing bringing college football into the 21st century. Teams will also have access to tablets for in-game video review. Each team will have 18 tablets to distribute throughout the coach’s box, in the locker room, and on the sideline. 

4. Horse collar tackles in the tackle box will be a 15-yard penalty

The horse collar tackle was made illegal in college football back in 2008, but now horse collars will be flagged for a 15-yard personal foul when they occur within the tackle box. 

5. Conference-wide video review system

Under this new rule, conferences will now be allowed to use a collaborative replay review system. The hope of this rule change is that the replay process will be expedited by an off-site replay official. 

6. Head coach interviews after the 1st and 3rd quarters

If you think that you don’t get to hear enough of Kirby Smart, then you’re in luck. Head coaches will now be interviewed by sideline reporters after the first and third quarters, instead of just heading into the tunnel before halftime.