With Web Site, Coaches Can Get Personal

Although college coaches from across the country are using Twitter, how they use the service varies. Many coaches offer relatively mundane updates about their daily routine.

Rich Rodriguez of Michigan, Urban Meyer of Florida and Mark Richt of Georgia stick mainly to football: a tweet about their team's practice schedule, a post about staff meetings, another about watching film of the spring game.

Other coaches are from-the-heart tweeters, offering a view of themselves away from the athletic arena, with posts about everything from their families to their thoughts on the NBA Finals last month.

On May 21, Seth Greenberg, the Virginia Tech men's basketball coach, sounded philosophical tweeting about former Hokie Michael Vick: "If one pays their debt to society for a crime they should be allowed to resume their lives."

In assessing "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" on June 14, George Mason men's basketball coach Jim Larranaga channeled his inner movie critic: "Saw Pelham123. It is not for everyone. New Yorkers who don't live in NYC anymore will like it.Lots of NY humor.Sarcasm & insults.I liked it."

When it comes to lively tweeting, perhaps no coach tops Southern California's Pete Carroll.

On the football field, Carroll is one of the great coaches of his generation, having led the Trojans to at least 11 victories in each of the past seven seasons, an NCAA record. At the keyboard, Carroll might have distinguished himself as the top tweeter of his time among coaches. Carroll often posts his "song of the day" and mounted a recruiting war to get comedian Will Ferrell, a USC alum, to join Twitter.

There is rarely a dull moment on Carroll's Twitter feed, where he sounds perky and adventurous as usual. On May 30, for example, he tweeted: "Hiking in the desert this am looking for an oasis!! Any suggestions?"

By showing their personal side, some coaches see Twitter as a way to connect with recruits and fans. Conversely, there are also benefits for coaches who track recruits through the site.

"I can't tell what they think of my Twitter," said Brenda Frese, the Maryland women's basketball coach and an active twitterer. "But following them on their Twitter allows me, when I get on the phone or send an e-mail, to know what's going on in their life. I think it helps you to know the personality of the recruits you're dealing with."