FARGO — The communication between the North Dakota State football coaches in a press box high above any stadium and the coaches on the sideline is priceless. Well, maybe not that much, but it’s at least $250,000.
That’s the cost of NDSU’s “CoachComm” portable communications system, a complicated array of headsets and wireless electronics. It’s the job of Nathan Bjoralt, NDSU’s director of football operations and equipment, to make sure it’s ready to go on game days.
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He’s often one of the first to arrive at NDSU’s game day location, home or away. In the case on Saturday, he’ll be at the University of Montana’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium early for the Division I FCS semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. (CST).
A sellout crowd of around 25,000 fans are expected. Of everybody in the stadium, Bjoralt will have one of the most interesting jobs since he is privy to what is being talked about within the Bison coaching staff over the airwaves.
For what it’s worth, anyway, which is probably not much. Coaching language can be an intricate one.
“They’re Xs and Os and they could mean a million things to me,” Bjoralt said.
It means big revenue to CoachComm, a company based in Auburn, Alabama. It has essentially cornered the market with on-field athletic communications, hence one reason for the high cost of the device.
“There are not many other options,” Bjoralt said.
NDSU used Telex from 2009-19, which was the same system NFL teams were using at the time. But Telex got out of the headset business and Bjoralt said finding parts for it when it was broken down was becoming a problem.
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The Bison athletic department, therefore, was forced to update to CoachComm. The NFL, meanwhile, developed its own system that it only uses within the league.
The old Telex system had its share of problems, especially with the frequency. There were times when Bison coaches would hear former NDSU play-by-play announcer Scott Miller on their headsets, with the frequency of the radio signal interfering with the bantering between coaches.
CoachComm bought a band of frequencies in the 900 range that nobody else is on to avoid that confusion.
“I heard of visiting teams that would get Scottie Miller on their headsets, too,” Bjoralt said with a smile.
A simple “home or away” switch separates teams at respective stadiums.
CoachComm has a few versions that includes a smaller version that high schools often use. The cheaper models, however, can be a problem at bigger stadiums like the ones NDSU plays in.
NDSU had two options: The bigger on-field cart or a smaller version that sells for about $20,000 less, Bjoralt said. The size is important for some teams that fly all of their equipment since it fits in the cargo section of airplanes.
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NDSU trucks its equipment, the personalized Bison football semi usually leaving Thursday after practice. Bjoralt said he’s talked with some Big Ten Conference schools that may go back to the smaller model. With the addition of USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon, it may not be an option to truck equipment across the country.
Broken down, how does it work? Each coach, or player, with a headset has a wireless beltpack, with 18 being on the field and eight in the upper coaches box. There are extras in case somebody’s headset doesn’t work.
On game days, Bjoralt is on the field with a computer screen showing all of the headsets, with each one broken down to who has it. He can see who is on what channel, the volume and if the signal coverage is adequate.
If the NDSU defense is on the field, he’s often on the defensive coaches’ headsets. And vice versa with the offense on the field. Offense, defense and special teams all have their own channel.
The system is also set up if college football ever adopts the coach-to-player communication that the NFL uses. If that were the case Saturday, offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl could talk directly to quarterback Cam Miller for a certain period of time before a play, therefore eliminating the use of sideline signals.
“There are some teams that do use it at practice and talk to their quarterback or linebacker or whatever but if you can’t do it in games, we’re not going to do it in practice,” Bjoralt said.
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