Welcome to The Crootletter (sign up to get this in your inbox every morning!). I'm Bud Elliott, SB Nation's National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I'll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting.
Every year, the NCAA adopts new legislation. Most fans will never notice the effects of most of those rules. But one revealed Wednesday caught the eye of many, and it concerns social media.
Traditionally, coaches have been able to follow and private message recruits on social media. But because it is against NCAA rules to publicize a recruit before signing (as in, a coach cannot publicize the school's recruitment of the player), coaches could not share or "like" a recruit's posts.
That's all changed.
This is the language of the rule, which will go into effect in August, assuming the NCAA's board of directors doesn't choose to amend it:
An athletics department staff member may take actions (e.g., "like," "favorite," republish, "tag," etc.) on social media platforms that indicate approval of content on social media platforms that was generated by users of the platforms other than institutional staff members or representatives of an institution's athletics interests.
Why did the NCAA make this change?
From the NCAA itself:
Intent: To establish exceptions to the prohibitions on endorsements of events that primarily involve prospective student-athletes, or endorsements of a prospective student-athlete's team or coach, or an athletics facility that is primarily used by prospective student-athletes, and an exception to the restrictions on publicity before commitment that permits actions (e.g., "like," "favorite," republish, "tag," etc.) by an institutional staff member on social media platforms that indicate approval of content on social media platforms that was generated by users of the platforms other than institutional staff members or representatives of an institution's athletics interests.
Rationale: Under the current legislation, it is difficult to monitor all coaches and their social media activities (e.g., "likes," "favorites," republishing, "tags," etc.). This proposal would create exceptions to the restrictions related to endorsement activities and publicity related to recruiting on social media platforms and attempt to maintain pace with the frequent creation and/or enhancement of social media applications.
Too long; didn't read? The NCAA realizes enforcing its existing social media prohibitions was inefficient at best, and more likely impossible, so it lessened its burden.
"I think social media's extremely important, because remember, these are young people's lives," Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck, a strong recruiter who has an active Twitter account, told Alex. "We're here to be teachers and educators, and that's the way they communicate. That's the way they learn. Not many young people pick up the newspaper anymore and read it from front to back. All they do is go on Twitter and social media."
Who will be sharing and liking? How will they decide what to share and like?
Many coaches don't actually run their Twitter accounts, but have interns and staffers take care of it for them.
But now the stakes are raised. Will coaches leave their reputations in the hands of an intern when it comes to what to like and reshare? What happens when a staffer or a coach himself retweets something written in slang that he doesn't understand, and it turns out to be a song lyric about something objectionable?
"I'm not sure what tweets some of these kids would actually send out that I would retweet," said Fleck. "I don't think that'll affect that at all. We have people that follow social media, that follow players' Twitter accounts and gain a scholarship or lose a scholarship for some of that stuff, or verify exactly what type of person they actually have.
"I think that's just gonna become a numbers game. 'You know, how many retweets will I get?' And [if] a kid's gonna put that much stock into how many coaches retweet my messages, they're probably not the right kid for us."
There is the other concern: recruits will be watching.
Via social media, I asked 20 current recruits for their thoughts on the change.
"I guess now we can see how much love these schools genuinely have for us (laughing emoji)," said Jamyest Williams, an elite Atlanta cornerback recruit.
The overwhelming response was that they will be able to see how much a coach really likes them. Yes, recruits can now use likes and retweets as further evidence of a coach's interest.
"Sounds good with me, because I really want to see how much interest they have," said Tyrone Truesdell, a three-star defensive tackle from Georgia.
These quotes expose a new layer of work for staffs. Despite only being able to take average of 20 or so players per class, some staffs give out hundreds of offers. That means hundreds of players might be watching to see which players' posts a coach likes.
Because of the nature of teenagers, this will absolutely lead to a prospect deciding a school that shares his postings more on Twitter is more interested in him than one who does not. Further, if a staff decides to share tweets from multiple top prospects, the recruit who is really No. 1 on a school's wishlist might get the idea that he is not so special.
Teenagers care about social media love to an extreme.
"I feel like it would be more exposure to fan bases and other programs" said Drew Jordan, a three-star defensive end with at least 15 offers.
"Good (flexing arm emoji). At least they will notice me (crying laughing emoji) (100 emoji)," said Jacob Copeland, a star 2018 receiver.
"Yeah, that would be cool," said Florida QB commitment Jake Allen.
I raised the issue of fans seeing who gets shared by coaches and blowing up that player's timeline. As is usually the case, they didn't seem to care about an issue that many adults seem to care about: the "don't tweet recruits" movement.
Only one player, Kentucky QB commitment Mac Jones, raised any issues.
"That's insane," Jones said. "And weird."
I can already anticipate two clarifications being made to this rule.
The first concerns the word "tag." If coaches and staff are allowed to tag a recruit, it opens up the opportunity to publicly recruit them. For instance, a coach recruiting a high-profile defensive back could post a graphic on Instagram touting the school's freshman All-American defensive backs, with a caption like "Who's next?" and tag a top defensive back being recruited.
The second clarification I can anticipate involves commenting with sharing. The rule seems to be silent as to whether a coach can share something and add a comment, like what is possible on Facebook or Twitter, or if the rule limits him solely to clicking the "share" button.
Twitter does allow users to "turn off retweets" by specific accounts. Just FYI.
Previously
This timeline shows how tough and complicated quarterback recruiting really is.
Projecting growth for even elite prospects is hard. How two didn't outgrow their positions.
Texas recruits and recruiting experts say that they are in a holding pattern, waiting to see what is going to happen with Charlie Strong and Kevin Sumlin.
If you're a recent signup or missed a day, that's OK. I link my previous Crootletters in this section.
Georgia, Florida State and Clemson recruits shined at The Opening Atlanta Regional.
Is Urban Meyergoing to copy Jim Harbaugh's Michigan spring break practice concept next year?
Who are the top players in Dallas? Where are they leaning? Find out in this recap of the Nike Opening Regional Camp.
Here are top players at the Miami Nike Opening Regional Camp.