Donald Trump’s departure from national title game disrupted Miami’s headset communications
· Yahoo Sports
Donald Trump’s departure from last season’s College Football Playoff National Championship briefly disrupted Miami’s headset communications, according to Miami sources cited by CBS Sports, although there is disagreement over exactly when it happened.
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The revelation came after Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian discussed the issue ahead of Trump’s expected appearance at Saturday’s game between Texas and Tennessee. Sarkisian said Trump’s movement inside a stadium can cause coach-to-player communications to be cut.
Miami faced Indiana in last season’s national championship, eventually losing 27-21 as the Hoosiers secured their first national title. Sarkisian said Mario Cristobal had told him Miami lost communication during a late drive after Trump left the stadium.
Photo by Tim Warner/Getty ImagesMiami sources dispute when Trump’s departure affected the game
“A good friend of mine is Mario Cristobal,” Sarkisian said. “Last year, when they were playing Indiana in the national championship, they had that drive at the end of the game; they had no communications because he was leaving early before the game ended. You get no warning; it just cuts out. You have to be prepared for that.”
However, CBS Sports spoke to multiple Miami sources who confirmed communication was affected during the fourth quarter but differed on the timing. Two sources said the disruption did not happen during the final drive.
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti also confirmed that headset communication went down around the 6:45 mark of the fourth quarter before quickly returning.
“We couldn’t hear (on the TD), then it came back,” Cignetti told ESPN. “It came back before kickoff. We both had communication from that point on.”
The interruption reportedly lasted only a couple of plays and sources were adamant that it did not notably decide the game.
Miami did briefly close the gap during that period, with Malachi Toney catching a 41-yard pass before scoring on a 22-yard touchdown two plays later.
Indiana still held on, stopping Miami’s final drive before Jamari Sharpe intercepted Carson Beck on first-and-10 from the Hoosiers’ 41-yard line.
The incident has now resurfaced because of Trump’s expected attendance at Texas-Tennessee, with coaches aware that his movement inside the stadium can affect communications.
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