The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/714462
38 ■ THE WOLFPACKER N C State head coach Dave Doeren did not mince words when asked about his thoughts regarding the new NCAA rule permitting coaches to retweet prospective recruits. "I think somebody should take Twitter and put it in the trash can and close the lid," he said. Yet despite revealing his true thoughts on the matter, Doeren was among those coaches, starting Aug. 1, retweeting re- cruits, and the reality is that he has little choice but to do so. NC State recruiting coordinator Des Kitchings, who also coaches the Pack's running backs, said the options are simple: either you do it, or you don't and watch while other teams are. "It's another thing to put on our checklist to do because that's what is going to hap- pen," Kitchings said. "We're just going to join in and find a way to get it done." The latest attempt to modernize re- cruiting communications in the era of so- cial media is not without confusion. The NC State football staff met with its compli- ance officer, Michelle Lee, to get a handle on what they could and could not do. "It's a lot of gray area to it," Kitchings noted. "You can retweet a prospect's tweet, but you can't add a comment. You can't retweet an internet recruiting site about a kid. The kid has to retweet it for us to retweet it." Thus Kitchings would not be surprised if the matter gets revisited in a year or so. "Social media is hard to control and know the dynamics of it," he stated. In the meantime, NC State football coaches, like their brethren across the country, are glued more to their Twitter accounts than perhaps ever before because of the new rules. Doeren noted that his phone went crazy pretty soon after the change went into ef- fect. What remains to be seen is what kind of true impact would a coach retweeting a player have in a recruitment. Both Doeren and Kitchings expressed hope that a player would not pick a school based on that. Kitchings said if that were to happen, he would wonder about the likeli- hood of that player eventually decommit- ting. But the assistant also acknowledged it could have at least a subtle impact. "All these kids want instant gratifica- tion," Kitchings noted. "A coach retweeting them is obviously going to excite them and make them feel like they are more special." NC State sophomore running back/wide receiver/kick returner Nyheim Hines was one of the more heavily recruited prospects on NC State's roster. For a while, he was convinced he would be going to Clemson, and he also took an official visit to Virginia Tech before picking NC State. The former four-star prospect is also a Twitter user, although he noted he does not spend as much time scrolling through his timeline anymore. However, Hines sur- mised that had the rules been in place when he was a senior at Garner (N.C.) High, the thought of a coach retweeting him "would have been cool." "I don't think it would have made a dif- ference where I would have went, but it would have been cool knowing the coaches WOLFPACK FOOTBALL NC State Football Coaches Adjust To New Social Media Rules 2016 NC State Football Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Time Sept. 1 William & Mary (ESPN3) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at East Carolina (ESPNU) 12 p.m. Sept. 17 Old Dominion (ESPN3) 6 p.m. Oct. 1 Wake Forest TBA Oct. 8 Notre Dame TBA Oct. 15 at Clemson TBA Oct. 22 at Louisville TBA Oct. 29 Boston College TBA Nov. 5 Florida State TBA Nov. 12 at Syracuse TBA Nov. 19 Miami TBA Nov. 25 at North Carolina 12 or 3 p.m. NC State head coach Dave Doeren and his assistants can now retweet recruits, but Doeren admits he is not a fan of Twitter. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN