Curt Cignetti Reveals Headset Issues During Indiana's CFP Title Win vs. Miami

Headset communications during Texas and Tennessee's Saturday matchup could potentially be impacted by President Donald Trump's plans to attend the game.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti told ESPN's Pete Thamel Thursday he experienced headset issues during January's national championship game, which Texas coach Steve Sarkisian previously said coincided with Trump's exit from the game.

According to Thamel, Cignetti said Indiana lost headset communications with around 6:45 left in the game and went without them at the end of a Miami touchdown drive.

"It came back before kickoff. We both had communication from that point on," Cignetti told Thamel.

Cignetti said the outage lasted long enough to encompass the play on which Miami's Malachi Toney caught a 22-yard touchdown pass, but that he was able to hear again after Indiana got the ball back, per Thamel.

Miami had one more offensive drive after that, during which the Hurricanes' hopes of a comeback were erased by Carson Beck throwing an interception with 44 seconds remaining.

Sarkisian told the Longhorn Network (h/t CBS Sports) Miami had experienced headset disruptions in the fourth quarter, although he said the incident took place on the Hurricanes' final drive.

"The one thing that you have to be aware of is, when the president goes to any game, is that any time he enters the stadium or leaves the stadium or changes locations within the stadium, they cut off communication," Sarkisian said on the Longhorn Network. "So, they cut your headsets. They cut headsets to coaches. They cut headsets to coach-to-play communication, so you have to have a plan if, and or when. You get no warning. That just gets cut out.

"So, you have to have a plan for that... If 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."

The White House confirmed to The Athletic's Ira Gorawara that Trump is planning to attend Saturday's game in Knoxville.

This will not be Sarkisian's first time involved in a game with Trump in attendance. He was serving as Alabama's offensive coordinator when Trump attended a 2019 game between Alabama and LSU.

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. He left each of those games early, per Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Saturday's matchup will pit two top-15 teams against one another in No. 1 Texas, where Arch Manning is looking to improve on last season's road struggles, and No. 14 Tennessee, where Faizon Brandon opened this season as the program's first true freshman starting quarterback since 2004. Kickoff is scheduled for noon this Saturday at Neyland Stadium.