College football and social media need to head to separate corners
College football and social media have been colliding more and more in recent years, and someone needs to step in and separate the two.
Before Laremy Tunsil‘s social media accounts were hacked and the video of him taking a hit from a gas-mask bong were broadcast from coast to coast…before anyone knew who Johnny Manziel or his favorite drink were…even before we all knew that Cardale Jones wasn’t in college for “classes”, there were warning signs about players, coaches and even fans on social media.
Social media has been a powerful tool – both helping and hindering players as they move from high school, through their college careers and into the NFL.
But it’s the hindrance that has become alarming, and finding a way to allow players their freedom of personal expression tempered with keeping themselves out of digital harms way has become an ever-growing problem.
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Some programs, such as Florida State and Clemson, have placed an outright ban on social media for players during the season. Not only are bans like this difficult to enforce whether initiated by players or coaches, but it doesn’t stop the players from finding themselves as victims on other people’s social media accounts.
Some, such as PR expert Gail Sideman, argue that more training is needed to teach players the dangers and traps of social media to help them navigate their way through what can be a difficult time in their lives even without national notoriety for the wrong reasons.
Enter Laremy Tunsil.
In discussing the Tunsil NFL Draft PR nightmare, Sideman said:
"“If athletes at any level ever needed a lesson why they should be careful about what they do, where they do it and with whom they do it, Thursday night was the first day of school and final exam combined.”"
And she’s right. Certainly training, teaching and educating have to be part of the solution. And while teaching Tunsil not to give our passwords to his accounts would have been prudent (although seemingly unnecessary), would all the social media education in the world have been any help to Tunsil’s real mistake?
Should someone need a tutor to teach them that allowing yourself to be videoed doing something illegal (especially when you’re underage) might be a bad idea, regardless of whether or not you plan to post it on social media?
Social media isn’t really the demon here. The real source of the problem is the entitled and indestructible feeling these kids have as a result of being so coddled and protected by coaches and administration. A lesson the Ole Miss staff found out a little too late when their prize NFL protégé threw the lot of them under the bus during his press conference.
But the problem isn’t only limited to players. Coaches, too, have had their run-ins with poor social media choices – most recently Texas A&M wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, who sent out an ill-timed tweet following the de-commitment of 5-star QB Tate Martell, which sent other TAMU recruits scurrying for cover.
It’s time to send the two parties to separate corners, because right now social media has college football players and coaches on the ropes. (Cue Duke, with “Throw the damn towel!”)
The simple fact of the matter is that these players have their social media accounts rolling along with thousands of followers before they even set foot on campus. Trying to re-educate and break the bad social media habits which have already been formed over years of use would be like trying to tell a smoker to just hold the cigarettes, but don’t light them.
And coaches? For the most part, they’re simply babes in the woods, trying to trudge their way through the thicket of new media to keep themselves locked in on recruits and looking cool with fans.
Where the education has to start is on the actions, not the possible digital consequences.
Want to stay out of trouble on Twitter or Snapchat? Don’t do dumb stuff like smoking weed while people have phones in their hands or allow yourself to be photographed in compromising positions. Better yet, how about avoiding those compromising positions altogether.
Teach players (and coaches) how every inane though which comes into their head doesn’t necessarily have to be broadcast for all the world to see. Some things are better kept as private thoughts. (Schools will have to develop an entire 100-level course on what private thoughts are, I’m sure).
You won’t get any mud on your white shoes if you stick to the clean, paved path.
Educating these players on exercising some common sense and helping them to find their moral compass will go a lot further than teaching them when not to press “send”.
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Banning social media is the big pharma approach to the problem. Treat the symptom, but not the disease. But for now, the separation of players, coaches and their precious Instagram accounts might be best for everyone until the definition of “permanent record” is fully instilled in everyone involved.