Paul Johnson is a Twitter newbie.
The Georgia Tech football coach has had a Twitter account in his name since 2007, but activated it only a month ago.
Johnson took the Twitter plunge for several reasons, including establishing a recruiting presence and the hopes of being able to shape public perception of the Yellow Jackets.
“We talked about it some, and I just think it’s something that you probably need to do,” Johnson said. “We probably, depending on what’s going to happen with the (NCAA recruiting rules), will hire a social-media guy to help with the program. We need to get our message out and quit letting everybody try to define us.
For Johnson, Twitter provides an instant line of communication daily with many Tech supporters. Johnson can offer thoughts and opinions, and reveal other (and lighter) sides of his personality and the football program.
“The media has an image of you, and they want to portray that image — so that’s what they are going to portray,” Johnson said. “They paint you a certain way, and that’s the way they want to portray you. I’ve never worried much about it because the people I know, (they) know me. But Twitter gives you a chance to control your message a little bit.”
Johnson has the makings of a Twitter star with his candid and witty remarks. He has helped sparked a Twitter revolution at Tech, with five of his assistants signing up (leaving three offline).
While Johnson understands the importance of Twitter, he’s not sure how big of a role it plays in recruiting.
“Probably like all of our assistants have been on Facebook, and a lot of them have had Twitter accounts before,” Johnson said. “They were just weren’t public accounts. They were private, and they didn’t put a lot of tweets out there. It was just for private messages.
“I’m not sure how many (recruits) follow coaches on Twitter. I talked to two recruits the other day. They called in and I asked them ‘Are you on Twitter?’ Neither of them were on Twitter, but both were on Facebook.”
Johnson couldn’t reveal names because of NCAA rules, but most big-name recruits are on Twitter.
Tech has two commitments for 2014: Defensive back Miles Taylor of Washington, D.C., is on Twitter, while Lowndes linebacker Tre Jackson skipped Twitter at his mother’s recommendation (too much smack-talking from rival high schools) in favor of Facebook and Instagram.
TWEET, TWEET
Twitter profile: Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson
Twitter screen name: @GTPaulJohnson
The basics: He has around 4,500 followers and has gained around 4,000 within the past month. Johnson has had a Twitter account since 2007, but activated it only last month. Johnson follows around 60 people, including former Tech football players and athletes from other sports, his assistants and several sportswriters. He usually tweets once per weekday and rarely interacts with followers.
Twitter personality: One of Johnson's main goals on Twitter, along with having a recruiting presence, was to let the public see another (and sometimes lighter) side of his personality and the football program. He started off with a bang, offering a few witty and humorous tweets. Over the past few weeks, Johnson has tweeted accomplishments of current and former Tech players, his random thoughts about sports, inspirational quotes, and links to pictures and videos.
Three best recent tweets: "Sure don't seem to be a dominant team in college BB this season. The Final Four here in ATL could be crazy!" (March 24). … "Come on Trebek, it's helluva engineer (with YouTube link to the "Jeopardy" TV game how)" Note: This was in reference to host Alex Trebek saying "heckuva engineer" as an answer (March 6). … "Doing my part to keep our DBs reflexes sharp (link to picture of Johnson playing pingpong with a player, on March 4)."
Best Tech assistant to follow on Twitter: Lamar Owens, the team's running backs coach, at @OwenLamar. He's above-average with interacting with his followers. He tweets links to Tech-related information and articles and usually tweets several times per day. He just needs to adjust to a better screen name. Honorable mention goes to Tech graduate assistant Maurice Duncan at @CoachDuncanGT. He's a beast on Twitter.
Johnson's grade: A. It remains to been seen if Johnson will remain this candid and loose during the season. Right now, he's about as entertaining as any coach in college football on Twitter to follow.
