Social media: Stoops' friend (recruiting) and foe (rumors)
Published: 2/8/2013 8:36 AM
Last Modified: 2/8/2013 8:36 AM
The Internet can be Bob Stoops’ best friend and worst enemy.
The Oklahoma coach is beginning to embrace Twitter (he recently opened a private account) and now has a Facebook page. Both accounts were developed strictly for recruiting.
Social media and message boards are also where rumors recently began that one or more staff changes may be on the horizon.
If true, the OU coaches who could be affected are anyone’s guess at this point.
During Stoops’ 14 previous years as coach, he’s only had one coach depart who didn’t have a coordinator or head coach position as his next step. Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez officially resigned last year, although many believe he was forced from his position.
With all of the chatter on the Internet beginning to surface, Stoops was asked during Wednesday’s news conference if staff changes were likely.
“How do you speculate that?” Stoops answered. “It’s not something that I ever talk about publicly.”
Then he said something that didn’t exactly extinguish speculation.
“From year to year, things happen on every staff,” he said. “We’ll see where it goes.”
If there is a move, it could happen soon. The next 30 days will be spent heavily on self-evaluation and any coach changes would be beneficial sooner rather than later.
Stoops won’t be on Twitter looking for coach rumor updates. But he has grasped the importance of social media in recruiting.
Today’s youth rely heavily on Twitter and Facebook. Stoops’ entrance into the social media world is vital for future success.
“The technology part of it, it’s pretty incredible everything that’s out there,” Stoops said. “So you just have to keep working with it.”
So what about @CoachStoops?
“My Twitter account? Strictly recruiting,” Stoops said, adding with a slight smile, “you guys (media) can’t get on it. I restrict it to recruits. You’ve got to. You’ve got to reach them.”
Are there plenty of people trying to get on?
“Are you kidding?” Stoops said. “Of course.”
Does he know how many?
“Oh yeah, quite a few,” he said. “But that’s not happening. That’s like I had a published e-mail for a day. My secretary walked in with a stack of papers, just suggestions and what I need to be doing and everything else. That was way back in, I want to say, 2001.”
So, to sum things up, don’t expect to be accepted into his Twitter account unless you have athletic eligibility. Plus, his Facebook account won’t be open as well, even if other coaches choose to do so.
“I’m not other coaches,” he said. “I don’t know who does, doesn’t and I don’t care what other people do. I’m not trying to measure myself to them. So I’ll do what pleases me.”
Written by
Eric Bailey
Sports Writer
