43
Web posts have coaches atwitter
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
On Tuesday morning, a few hours before Youngstown State running back Jamaine Cook took to Twitter to write about preparation leading to success, one of his teammates tweeted about a backup offensive lineman drunkenly throwing up on a former teammate’s bed.
That same day, Penguins were tweeting rap lyrics, “Billy Madison” quotes, pictures of ankle-length shorts and complaints about substitute professors, among other random topics.
Three hours away, Ohio State was lifting its ban on reporters tweeting during Urban Meyer’s news conferences. Thirty-five hours away, USC was getting attention for putting its players’ Twitter handles on its first depth chart.
In just six years, Twitter has gone from an upstart social media company to one of the Web’s 10 biggest sites. And, potentially, one of football coaches’ 10 biggest headaches.
“We tell our players, ‘Don’t put anything on Twitter that you wouldn’t want your mom to read,’ ” YSU coach Eric Wolford said. “And, obviously, when it comes to football, don’t put anything on there that might be bulletin-board material for the other team.”
Like many of his players, Wolford has a Twitter handle (@YSUFBCoach), although most of his tweets are like this one from Aug. 18: “Good morning for a scrimmage...there was competition all over the field! Proud of the team...two weeks today YSU @ Heinz field! GO YSU!”
Most YSU players either protect their Twitter accounts (i.e. choose who can follow them) or avoid writing anything controversial.
Cook, for instance, typically tweets about his daughter or something inspirational, although he’ll throw in something funny from time to time. (Case in point: On July 31, he wrote about getting a Bentley for training camp with a link to a photo of a bicycle.)
“If I post something on Twitter, I try and do more motivational things,” Cook said. “I know there’s trouble out there and the media can twist things, so our coaching staff, they teach us if we’re going to post things, don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your mom or your grandmother or your future boss to see.
“If I was to go out there and say, ‘We’re gonna just annihilate Pitt,’ their media may go and twist that.”
In the media’s defense, you wouldn’t really need to twist that — and, to clarify, Cook was very respectful of Pitt in his interview — but the point stands. In the world of social media, it’s easy for your message to get muddled.
Junior quarterback Kurt Hess doesn’t have that problem because he got rid of his Twitter account. But not for any lofty reasons.
“I was getting on it during class and it was getting in the way of my homework and my studies,” he said. “I don’t really say much about it anymore. When I was on there, I saw some things I probably wouldn’t post.
“Like Jamaine said, would you want your grandmother to see it or would you want your future boss to see it? If it’s something you’re even questioning about putting up there, you probably shouldn’t.”