Air Force One flyover: Trump attends a big college football game that could disrupt communications

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Encouraging fans to get inside Neyland Stadium earlier than usual with President Donald Trump coming to Tennessee's college football game against Texas sure worked Saturday.

Security checks on the stadium's perimeter went relatively smoothly with Tennessee officials opening the stadium 30 minutes earlier than normal. Fans got half-price off concessions as a reward for showing up early, and Tennessee faithful had the stands half full 90 minutes before kickoff and nearly packed an hour before.

Those in their seats were treated to a low-altitude flyover by Air Force One as the president came into town with the Volunteers and Longhorns warming up on the field below. Trump landed at 11:28 a.m. ET ahead of the noon kickoff, according to the pool report.

Trump's motorcade arrived at Neyland Stadium just as the national anthem was being sung at 11:59 a.m.

The bigger disruptions from Trump's visit could go all the way to the game on the field, with headaches for coaches and players, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said this week.

The Southeastern Conference matchup between the No. 1 Longhorns and No. 14 Volunteers in Knoxville already was one of the biggest games in the country this weekend. Trump came to watch Texas quarterback Arch Manning play for the first time in the stadium where his uncle Peyton became famous.

And what Trump does, and where he goes and when, could prove important.

Teams must be ready to lose all communication on their headsets between coaches on the field and the players “anytime (Trump) enters the stadium, leaves the stadium or changes locations within the stadium,” Sarkisian said.

“They cut the headsets to coaches. They cut headsets for coach-to-player communication. So you have to have a plan for that, if and when it happens, and you get no warning. It just gets cut out," Sarkisian said.

And “anytime” really means anytime.

“You have to have a plan to adjust if and when he comes in the middle of the first quarter, leaves in the fourth quarter, or decides he’s got to use the restroom," Sarkisian said.

Trump has attended more college football games than any recent sitting president, and he arrived in Knoxville in the midst of a midterm election season and a heated debate over the role of money in college sports that Congress is trying to resolve. He has attended national championship games and regular season contests in the SEC and Army vs. Navy.

He also attended Game 3 of the NBA finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in June, went to the 2025 Daytona 500 car race, and presented the World Cup trophy to Spain at the final in July. And last year, he was the first president to attend a Super Bowl. He left the Super Bowl after halftime.

Headset communications emerged as the latest subplot surrounding this presidential visit. Coaches communicate with each other on their headsets throughout the game and also call in plays to the quarterback. Disruptions to those communications, from a deafening crowd, technical glitch or presidential security measure, can present problems for coaches and teams.

Coaches involved in last season's College Football Playoff championship between Miami and Indiana in New Orleans cited that game as an example of how Trump's movements affected them.

Trump left in the fourth quarter of a tense Indiana 27-21 victory. Sarkisian said Miami coach Mario Cristobal told him Trump's leaving at that point disrupted communications on the Hurricanes' final possession, which ended with a game-clinching interception.

Indiana coach Curt Signetti disputed Sarkisian's version of events around the final drive. But Cignetti noted communications briefly cut off in a key moment of the fourth quarter as Indiana was trying to protect its lead.

In his weekly radio show on Thursday, Cignetti recalled that when Trump left the game “around the 7-minute mark ... there were two or three plays we couldn't hear at all.”

That included a misdirection touchdown run by Miami's Malachi Toney.

“Communication device came back right after the (Toney’s) touchdown,” Cignetti said. “And we had no problem the rest of the game.”

According to the media pool report of Trump's movements at the game, the president left the stadium with “with just under 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter.”

The White House on Friday insisted Trump’s departure caused no problems for the teams.

“No, President Trump’s departure from the CFP championship in January did not cause headset or comms issues for the teams,” the White House posted on X.

It's unclear if Trump's presence at other games like the Super Bowl have created issues. An NFL spokesman declined comment Friday when asked if league officials work with the Secret Service when a president attends a game like the Super Bowl to minimize any impact on team communications.

University of Tennessee officials sent a midweek advisory encouraging fans to arrive “significantly earlier” than for a typical game. Neyland Stadium has an official capacity of 101,915 with this game the 30th consecutive sellout.

Fans were warned of the Secret Service conducting enhanced screening at the stadium gates and to "expect increased wait times as kickoff approaches.”

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas.

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Fans greet players during the Vol Walk before an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Texas, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is escorted into Neyland Stadium before an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Texas, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

President Donald Trump walks up the stairs of Air Force One upon his departure at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, en route to watch the Texas versus Tennessee NCAA college football game in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

Fans watch from the bridge during the Vol Walk before an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Texas, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Tennessee mascot waves the Power T flag during the Vol Walk before an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Texas, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen opened fire on an ambulance attending the scene of a suicide bomb attack at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least 12 people on Saturday and wounded about 35 others, officials said.

The attack involving an explosives-laden vehicle occurred in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service. Local police chief Safdar Baloch said most of those killed and wounded were security personnel and passersby.

The blast destroyed the sprawling checkpoint, and witnesses said gunshots were also heard after the attack.

Faizi said gunmen opened fire on an ambulance as emergency crews transported victims to a nearby hospital, killing a rescue worker and wounding two others. Two women and a child were among those killed in the suicide bombing, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan has experienced a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it claimed by the TTP and the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group primarily active in neighboring Balochistan province.

The TTP is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, which returned to power in 2021.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, offered condolences to the victims’ families.

Zardari described the targeting of civilians and law enforcement personnel as “highly condemnable” and called for intensified action against the Pakistani Taliban, which he accused of carrying out “heinous and brutal acts” with foreign support.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing TTP members to operate from Afghan territory and have demanded that Kabul prevent cross-border attacks. Afghan authorities deny permitting their territory to be used for attacks against other countries.

Saturday’s bombing came two days after fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border killed at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters, according to Pakistan’s government. The clash followed Pakistani strikes this week on suspected militant hideouts inside Afghanistan.

The renewed hostilities threaten mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia aimed at securing lasting peace between the neighboring countries.

Dera Ismail Khan is near South Waziristan, a former militant stronghold where Pakistan’s military has conducted several operations in recent years.

Militants frequently target security forces in the region. In December 2023, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the main gate of a police station in Dera Ismail Khan, killing at least 23 security personnel in one of the area’s deadliest attacks. Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a small militant group believed to be an offshoot of the TTP, claimed responsibility.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

In this photo taken with a smartphone, volunteers transport an injured victim of a suicide attack on a roadside police checkpoint upon his arrival at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Kashif Naveed)

In this photo taken with a smartphone, volunteers transport an injured victim of a suicide attack on a roadside police checkpoint upon his arrival at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Kashif Naveed)

In this photo taken with a smartphone, volunteers transport an injured victim of a suicide attack on a roadside police checkpoint upon his arrival at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Kashif Naveed)