Recruiting: Stop Tweeting at College Football Recruits

Jan 2, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Team Highlight defensive end Byron Cowart (99) rushes the quarterback during the second half of the 2015 Under Armour All-America Game at Tropicana Field. Team Highlight defeated Team Armour 46-6. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Recruiting is a crazy time period in college football these days.

The time of schools simply talking to players and those players deciding where to play have long gone. These days, it’s about rankings, leans, commitments, decommitments, officials visits, unofficial visits, smokescreens, all-star games, photoshopped pictures depicting high school players in college jerseys and heavy expectations for kids who, unless they’re early enrollees, still have to ask for permission from a teacher to use the bathroom at school.

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Recruiting can’t get any crazier, right? Wrong. It not only can, but it does, every single day. That’s thanks to the monolith that is social media.

Young people enjoy social networking such as Twitter and Instagram. (No, not Facebook. That ship has sailed from Popularity Bay and likely won’t come back.) I would know, as I’ve had a twitter account since I was in 8th grade and have tweeted quite a bit. I’ve tweeted so much, some of my hometown friends that don’t attend Auburn with me have long since unfollowed, and I can’t blame them one bit.

So, it stands to reason that young athletes have a major social media presence. Byron Cowart (@ByronHawkStar99), the top-ranked prospect in America, has, at the time this is being written, 11.6 thousand followers. He uses his account for personal entertainment and, at times, advertisement for his skills. He’s tweeted over 2,550 times.

But for every major star athlete trying to find his future home, there’s a thousand fans and alumni who will do what they can to sway said athlete towards their school. No, I’m not talking about the rich boosters and supporters that actually can have an influence (that’s a conversation for another day). I’m talking about Bob Smith from Somewhere Small, Alabama, who knows exactly how to help Auburn or Alabama win over the prized player: tweeting at him.

I’m going to get right to the point: don’t tweet at recruits. If you’ve been tweeting at recruits, stop doing it.

Don’t see this as me telling Auburn fans in particular to stop it out of bias and wanting Auburn to avoid NCAA trouble, because we’re never going to see the day that: a.) The NCAA punishes a school because its fans aren’t good at Twitter, and b.) Fans tweeting at a recruit actually influence him enough to warrant an investigation to begin with.

Jan 4, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; West defensive back Davion Hall (34) celebrates his interception with his teammates during U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school football game at the Alamodome. The West won 28-6. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

No, there’s one very, very simple reason why I implore you, as a sports fan and a human being, to avoid contacting recruits online, regardless of which school you support: it’s creepy.

“It’s not creepy, it’s just social media interaction!” If a 60-year old salesman is tweeting at an 17-year old kid and giving him life advice and telling him which school is best for him, his family and his future, that transcends social media interaction and becomes nearly disturbing.

In October 2012, the day of my high school’s (Headland) homecoming football game, I received a letter from Auburn University. I had been accepted to start school there the next fall. I was so happy that I took to Twitter and Facebook to share the news, to many responses of congratulations. If my notifications were flooded with people I don’t and never will know criticizing me for my choice and telling me what they think is best for me, that wouldn’t have influenced my choice. It would have creeped me out immensely, and my block button would have been put to good use.

No, I wasn’t a prized football recruit. I was a second-string defensive end who was on crutches due to a preseason leg injury that ended my senior season before it began. But these football recruits are still, like I was at the time, high schoolers.

I know how high school kids think, because a few short years ago, I was one of them. Random people entering your business online is, in fact, creepy. Sure, high school kids love the attention and fame, but there’s a difference between the perks of being a borderline celebrity and being harassed by creeps.

A high school recruit can’t even send a tweet about eating cereal without people tweeting him things like:

“Thats a good choice! That cereal is the best,just like you! #GoNoles” – 38-year old woman

“Your right, just like how right youll be on NSD, roll tide” – 49-year old lawyer

“That’s the breakfast of champions. Speaking of champions, O-H-I-O!” – 28-year old custodian

“We got plenty of that cereal on the Plains. Hop on the bus! #WDE” – 17-year old high school kid that also likely has an anonymous account that sells beer koozies to any idiot that will buy them (not to call anyone out, *cough*@OBNOXIOUSAUFAN*cough*)

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Recruiting is a media circus that has become overblown to the point of pretentiousness, but we can’t stay away. Why? Sports are addicting. There is no more college football until early September. Recruiting is all there is to talk about for fans and media, and crazed fans will always fool themselves into thinking they can plant themselves into a recruit’s decision-making process.

The more the world becomes connected through social media, the less likely that is to change, and the more likely it is that this article will fall on closed eyes and deaf ears.

If you are one of the people that tweets at college football recruits, heed this advice: you make no difference to this kid. He doesn’t know you. Don’t pretend that you know him. Save yourself the embarrassment of being “that guy” or “that woman” who is delusional enough to think 140 characters can determine where a young man spends 3-5 years of his life. Accept your place as a fan and take more sane measures to support your favorite program.

And finally, just stop being creepy.

Next: National Signing Day: Updated Odds & Projections

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