UGA’s football coaches have a stronger presence on Twitter, while Georgia Tech is just beginning to show up on the Social Media platform.

  Twitter is becoming (if it isn’t there already) perhaps the most important online recruiting tool in college athletics, even ahead of Facebook.

  Why is that? It’s simple: All the recruits are on Twitter.

  If a college coach is on Twitter, and he posts at least one message per day (called a “Tweet”), then that gives the coach and his program free and unlimited exposure to the sea of recruits out there watching. And the kids are always watching. They check Facebook daily, but most live on Twitter 24/7.

  There’s a reason why new Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and Tennessee’s Butch Jones made Twitter a priority soon after being hired. It put them on the cutting edge of technology in recruiting. Every time a coach tweets, it’s a golden opportunity to make a sales pitch to any and all kids across the galaxy without forcing it down their throats. And you never know who’s looking. A lot of times, a lot of recruits are watching.

  Bottom line: If a college head coach or assistant is not on Twitter, he is hurting his school’s recruiting efforts. He is not taking advantage of the best recruiting tools available. There’s no way around that.

  Before we examine UGA and Georgia Tech further, let’s take a look at who I think is the best college football coach on Twitter: That would be Ole Miss coach’s Hugh Freeze. He’s worth following at @CoachHughFreeze even if you don’t care about Ole Miss football. It’s worth it for three reasons: He’s active daily on Twitter, he posts witty and encouraging things, and he often interacts with his followers. In other words, Freeze gets it. He understands the power of Social Media.

  UGA has made gigantic strides within the last few months. The Bulldogs have seven coaches on Twitter, led by Mark Richt, who has 60,000 followers. The only UGA assistants missing are Mike Bobo, Todd Grantham, and Scott Lakatos – and a school official told the AJC that all three will be on there soon.

  Last May, Richt (or one of the office employees) re-activated his Twitter account, tweeting for the first time in nearly three years. Most of Richt’s tweets are positive affirmations about his football program, his current or former players, the university and even the school’s basketball program. Here are a few:

  Thanks to everyone who helped us sign an Awesome Class!! The future is very bright in the Bulldog Nation!! Let’s get to work! GO DAWGS!!

  I’m a Mark Fox fan!! Go Dawgs!!

  How bout That Georgia Bulldog Danelle Ellerbe!!!! Great interception to ice the game!! Super Bowl !!

  Richt is pretty vanilla on Twitter but, again, the most important thing – as far as recruiting – is that he has a presence on Twitter. He’s only following four people (three are family members), and he’s never ever ReTweeted anything – which adds to the popular conspiracy theory that he really doesn’t know what’s going on with Twitter (if he RTs once this month, we think there would be a Twitter meltdown). But again, Richt has a presence on Twitter.

  Here are the other UGA coaches and their Twitter handles:

•   @JohnLillyUGA - John Lilly (This guy has the makings of a Twitter star with his insightful and witty comments)
•   @TonyBallUGA - Tony Ball
•   @Coach_Wilson10 - Chris Wilson (Bonus points for being on Instagram, too)
•   @CoachBmacUGA - Bryan McClendon
•   @georgiaol  - Will Friend
•   @coachkouga - Kirk Olivadotti

  Now there’s Georgia Tech football. Not to pick on a specific coach or school, but it’s surprising that the Yellow Jackets have little or no presence on Twitter. With as many CEOs and business leaders produced by that school, I would’ve thought someone from Georgia Tech might’ve helped invent Twitter.

  Paul Johnson does not have an official Twitter account. He recently told the AJC that his coaches were on Facebook, and that he’s still thinking about Twitter.

  If I were Georgia Tech, I’d create a Twitter account for Johnson yesterday, and have someone in the football office run it. Again, it’s all about the unlimited exposure to recruits. I’d tweet out (like Richt) positive affirmations about the school, players, GPAs, etc. And I'd tweet about @Bigplaycj at least once every week.

  There's only one Georgia Tech coach on Twitter, according to a school official:

•   @BuzzApreston – Buzz Preston, assistant
• @OwenLamar -- Lamar Owens (new on Tuesday)

There's also Maurice Duncan, a Tech graduate assistant, by going to @CoachDuncanGT

(Note: The best "non-coach" to follow for Georgia Tech football commentary is ... @DeanBuchan)

Please follow the AJC's Recruiting Coverage on Twitter at @RecruitingAJC