Experiments in freezers and showers? How Sony, NFL built new coach's headset
In modern football, communicating via advanced technology has become the norm.
Still, the margin for error is zero when it comes to the headsets coaches wear on the sidelines, which allows them to communicate with one another.
“The last thing you want a coach to worry about is their headset,” NFL chief information officer Gary Brantley told Paste BN Sports.
Eliminating concerns while satisfying needs became the goal of Sony, the NFL’s corporate technology partner when it comes to innovation, and their quest to build a freshly designed and tricked out coach’s headset that will debut during the 2025 NFL season. The former headsets used by coaches were introduced ahead of the 2023 season.
“This was very much a collaborative process with the NFL, with Sony, and our clubs, working with coaches and our clubs and iterate on that feedback,” NFL senior vice president for football operations Kim Fields told Paste BN Sports.
The project began after the 2023 season, Brantley said, and the NFL and Sony agreed to a new technology partnership a year ago that only expedited the process. The 32 clubs have already started working with the new headsets during offseason training activities (OTAs).
The new design features a slightly larger microphone with voice recognition and muting capabilities, along with noise-canceling features. With the custom mic, the coach's voice is isolated – meaning it can only pick up that coach’s voice – in any condition. Once the mic is flipped up from the coach’s mouth – presumably for the coach to shout instructions or consult with a player or position group on the sideline – it automatically becomes muted.
“This headset took all factors of the game into consideration,” Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said in a statement, “and I am looking forward to being able to rely on them during the game throughout this season and beyond.”
The NFL sent Sony weather data for the last 20 years of games so engineers based in Tokyo could experiment in all conditions. Engineers stood in freezers or showers to mimic an ice bowl in Green Bay or a monsoon in Jacksonville. Sony didn’t need to simulate the heat because of Japan’s natural climate and humidity in the summer. The NFL’s technology teams also meticulously tested the new headset.
Durability was another key component of the testing process. Headsets can become collateral damage in the heat of the moment. But they still need to work.
“We prepared for everything and we tested everything,” Sony audio product manager Shunsuke Nakahashi told Paste BN Sports.
He added: “It’s not like Sony created some product and passed it off to the NFL. We did a lot together.”
Throughout last season, Sony engineers traveled to dozens of NFL games to record crowd noise, which they could recreate back at the Tokyo lab. They also tested at international games.
“As we expand our international games, we needed to make sure it worked in those environments as well,” Fields said.
Nakahashi presented at the annual league meeting in March to head coaches and general managers “so they’re fully aware of what’s coming this year,” Fields said. But since they had been part of the process along the way, Fields said, there were no concerns at all. Sony and the NFL’s technology team are still working together for presentations to coaching staffs about best practices for the new headset.
“We were really happy with the outcome,” Brantley said.