Twitter craze aids coaches in recruiting

Within the past month, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson has activated his Twitter account. Georgia’s Mark Richt, fully aware of the recruiting potential, is a Twitter veteran of four years, but has ramped up his activity since last summer.

The new football coaches at Tennessee and Auburn made Twitter a priority soon after being hired. Alabama’s Nick Saban doesn’t have official account, but it’s likely only a matter of time.

College coaches around the country are signing up for Twitter because of the recruiting opportunities. It’s on the cutting edge of recruiting technology, and it’s free — which is a big help for cash-strapped athletic departments desperately seeking publicity.

For people unfamiliar without Twitter accounts, it’s like Facebook status updates at a much faster rate. You have a 140-character limit to express your thoughts and opinions in a tweet. Some people make only a few comments per day, while others carry on an open-ended conversation. And, providing you don’t have any guards on your account, the whole world can see your Tweets and interact with you.

The main reason for the blossoming presence of college coaches on Twitter is, of course, the recruits. While Facebook remains popular among high school students, Twitter seems to be the hottest spot to hang out online throughout the day.

If a college coach is on Twitter, and he posts at least one message per day, then that gives the coach and his program free and unlimited exposure to the sea of recruits out there observing. It’s a golden opportunity to make a sales pitch about a program to any and all recruits without forcing it upon them.

Here’s what some coaches had to say about the role of Twitter in recruiting:

James Franklin, Vanderbilt: I think being on Twitter keeps you relevant in recruiting. It just keeps you active, and it keeps you on these young guys' minds. I don't do it a whole lot … but if there's something really interesting that we're doing and we want to get out there, I will shoot it out. We're going to look for every advantage we possibly can at Vanderbilt, with whatever medium, and then some. Twitter gives us a chance to get our voice and message out there.

Butch Jones, Tennessee: I think from being able to communicate, it plays a large role in recruiting. I like it, too, in another regard. It lets me research and see what this individual is all about. What are they tweeting? What is important to them? So there's a lot of things from Twitter that we use for recruiting. Does he have the character we're looking for? So not only is Twitter good from a communicative end, but also from an investigative end, as well.

Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: I'm not on Twitter, but our assistant coaches are. I've just never gotten into it. I guess I've been doing this for 28 years now, and I've never thought it was a huge advantage to put your business on the street. I guess there are some recruiting advantages, and we do use it. I just don't use it personally.

Mark Stoops, Kentucky: I think it's just another way of communicating. I know it has helped us with recruiting and staying up with recruits, and things like that. I definitely think it's a big part of recruiting, and here to stay.