The Challenge: This will be Ohio State’s first game with helmet communication, and it’s up to veteran linebacker, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and everyone else who helps line up the defense to figure it out.

“I kind of like it,” Simon said. “I mean, it’s definitely an adjustment, but it’s easier to get a call first… The problem is going to be the crowd. That’s going to be the biggest problem. And I mean, NFL games aren’t quite as crazy as college football games, so it’s going to be interesting if The Shoe kind of goes crazy. We’ll see how it goes.”

Communication between coach and player will be cut off 15 seconds before the end of the game or at the snap of the ball, whichever comes first. And this will be the first attempt to implement the new rule for all college football teams at the FBS level.

And as with anything new, there’s the chance something could go wrong — the helmet mic could fail, or Akron could be playing a no-huddle offense that’s too fast for Knowles to call a play, or the Buckeyes fans could be too loud for Simon or another player to hear the call. There are countless things that can happen, including, of course, the possibility that there will be no problems and everything will run smoothly when helmet communication is introduced.

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“I mean, it’s definitely not easy,” Simon said. “I don’t know exactly who the next green dot is going to be, but it’s new for everybody, I would say not just older guys and young guys. It’s really good for guys who are getting ready to go to the NFL. It’s preparation for the next level. I mean, it’s not very easy, but you get used to having to communicate on a different level. It gets especially tough at home games when there are hundreds of thousands of people screaming on the third try. You have to be able to communicate effectively and quickly and really make your voice heard in a way that maybe you didn’t have to before with signals.”

The issue came to light after Michigan stole signs during the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. Since then, the measure has passed and is now available to teams that want to use it.

“We’re definitely going to learn on the fly because this is something nobody has ever done in college football,” Simon said. “So it’s going to be interesting.”

Ohio State has a history of loud crowd noise during practices, not only when the offense is on the field, but also to give the defense a chance to learn how to operate at home games.

The plan is to rely solely on helmet communication, although Simon and the defense will have to resort to traditional hand signals when the moment calls for it. That’s something Ohio State stands for, and Simon has prepared for every situation.

“I mean, even when we’re calling signals, I’m yelling out the call, I’m still trying to get everybody ready, so it’s not a big adjustment for me, it’s just another level,” Simon said. “It actually helps you become more vocal as a linebacker, especially for the young backers. They have to be vocal now about what they’re thinking and what they’re seeing, and I think that’s a good thing.”