Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi has a rules suggestion that would be absolutely disastrous for Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols' up-tempo offense.

A recent article from ESPN detailed the paranoia of college football coaches when it comes to sign stealing.

College football quarterbacks don't have headsets in their helmets like quarterbacks do in the NFL. So that means that the play calls come from the sidelines via various hand signals.

Teams do all they can to mix up the signals and use dummy signals to prevent the opposing teams from decoding them.

Despite the mixed hand signals, college football head coaches, much like MLB players and managers, are still paranoid when it comes to opponents trying to steal their signs.

For that reason, several coaches — including Narduzzi — have advocated for speakers in the quarterback's helmet.

But that suggestion comes with a caveat.

Narduzzi is concerned that if college quarterbacks get a speaker in their helmet, then it'll allow offenses to move even faster. For that reason, he would want a rule in place that states the ball can't be snapped before there are 25 seconds left on the play clock (except under two minutes).

The Pittsburgh head coach told ESPN that he plans to make the suggestion to the rules committee this offseason.

From ESPN:

Narduzzi, a longtime defensive assistant before he became a head coach, said offenses already dictate tempo and would go even faster with headsets. So he has a radical idea: use headsets but bar offenses from snapping the ball before 25 seconds on the clock until the 2-minute mark of each half.

"Then we can actually huddle on offense, huddle as a defense, and now we can talk to the Mike linebacker and give a defense," Narduzzi said. "And now all of a sudden we have a real game and now offenses can't steal our s— because they do."

But there's not much hope. The NCAA rules committee has shown no willingness to slow down offenses. Still, Narduzzi said he'd suggest the change to the committee this offseason.

This rule would be disastrous for Tennessee's offense.

The Vols don't always move at warp speed, but their offense is clearly at its best when tempo is being used.

Tennessee often snaps the ball with more than 30 seconds left on the play clock.

Joe Milton firing off effortless bombs is going to be fun to watch in 2023??? pic.twitter.com/1oX28YHSXa

— Vols Big Orange Podcast (@BigOrangePod) January 7, 2023

This rule change would drastically impact Tennessee's offense and take away one of its biggest weapons.

However, I don't see it happening. Everyone wants offense, right? Folks want to see high-scoring offenses that bring excitement to games. A great defensive battle can be fun to watch, but it's the shootouts in big games that seem to get fans the most excited and engaged. I don't see the NCAA making a move to take offense out of the game.

Plus, it's not like Narduzzi is Nick Saban and has a lot of influence in college football. And remember, Saban proposed a rule in 2014 that would've prevented offenses from snapping the ball until there were 29 seconds on the play clock. That rule proposal was eventually tabled.

As long as teams have trouble defending tempo we'll hear proposals like this one from Narduzzi.

I'd be surprised if the rule ever changes, but it's going to be a constant debate as long as up-tempo offenses thrive.

Featured image via Michael Longo/For USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK