Indiana coach Curt Cignetti revealed to ESPN’s Pete Thamel that headset communications were disrupted during January’s national championship game against Miami, an issue that coincided with former President Donald Trump’s departure from the stadium.
Cignetti said the outage occurred with about 6:45 remaining in the game, affecting communications through the end of Miami’s touchdown drive. Malachi Toney’s 22-yard touchdown reception came during that window, though Cignetti noted communication was restored before Indiana regained possession. The disruption lasted long enough to encompass the entire Hurricanes’ final scoring drive.
“It came back before kickoff. We both had communication from that point on,” Cignetti told Thamel. The disruption ended when Miami’s Carson Beck threw an interception with 44 seconds left, sealing Indiana’s victory.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed similar issues during his team’s fourth-quarter disruption on the Longhorn Network, explaining that security protocols automatically cut headset communications whenever a sitting president enters, moves within, or leaves a stadium. According to Sarkisian, these protocols cut headsets to coaches and coach-to-play communication.
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“You have to have a plan if, and or when. You get no warning. That just gets cut out,” Sarkisian said. “If it comes in middle of the first quarter, or leaves in the fourth quarter, or decides he’s got to use the restroom: Whatever that looks like, you’ve got to be prepared to have no comms for a short amount of time.”
Saturday marks another high-profile matchup with presidential attendance, as the White House confirmed Trump plans to attend the Texas-Tennessee game in Knoxville. This will be Sarkisian’s second game with Trump present, having previously experienced the protocol as Alabama’s offensive coordinator during a 2019 matchup against LSU, when Trump also departed early. Trump has also attended national championship games between Alabama and Georgia in 2018 and LSU and Clemson in 2020, as well as a regular-season matchup between Alabama and Georgia in 2024, leaving each early according to Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Adam Sparks.
The upcoming contest features No. 1 Texas against No. 14 Tennessee, with kickoff scheduled for noon at Neyland Stadium. Texas quarterback Arch Manning is looking to improve on last season’s road struggles, while Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon continues his campaign as the program’s first true freshman starting quarterback since 2004.
