Georgia Tech Football

Tech on Twitter: Exploring GT Football's New Niche

The month of February was a prospector's dream for those looking to harvest instant news from the GT football coaching staff.

By GTNate Mar 2, 2013, 3:39pm EST

It was a glorious day this past Tuesday when Paul Johnson joined Twitter, leading to the mind-boggling picture you see above. According to ESPN, PJ's reluctance to get on the network was broken by his daughter Kaitlyn and football Assistant Director of Operations Mike Huff. The social media bug seems to have infected the entire GT football staff as of late, with eight out of thirteen coaches on staff producing their first tweet within the past month. Undoubtedly a reaction to the recruiting whirlwind that occurs daily on Twitter, particularly in the beginning of February, it's good to see some media savvy from the staff as they begin to use this new recruiting tool.

Given this recent uptick in internet activity, I figured it would be fun to find the best tweets from each staff member and give all of you Twitter rookies an analysis of each coach's account. Here, I count a "coach" as someone who I believe to be on the field with the players every practice and has regular interactions with them outside the context of practice. (This is why you may not see every twitter account belonging to some of the people listed under the "coaches" section of ramblinwreck.com listed here.) Also, keep in mind that most of these men are new to the system, and so there's not really enough content on their feeds to truly represent what they'll become. This is just for fun.

Paul Johnson, Head Coach

@GTPaulJohnson's first tweet: Feb. 26th, 2013. The best tweet is definitely the one that contains the headlining picture of this post:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>For those that don't believe I'm actually tweeting... <a href="http://t.co/uw8DYjA1hV" title="http://twitter.com/GTPaulJohnson/status/306845136359395329/photo/1">twitter.com/GTPaulJohnson/…</a></p>— Paul Johnson (@GTPaulJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/GTPaulJohnson/status/306845136359395329">February 27, 2013</a></blockquote>

That's it. That characterizes Paul Johnson in every way imaginable. Dry wit. Straightforward. Humorless, yet somehow with a hint of humor. He hasn't been tweeting for very long so it's hard to characterize his account but right now it's got a lot of interesting pictures and a few funny thoughts. Hopefully it continues to be entertaining.

Buzz Preston, WR Coach

@CoachBuzzPres's first tweet: Feb. 1st, 2013. Coach Preston was the first of the Yellow Jacket coaches to follow me and was the third on staff to join Twitter. It's updated relatively infrequently compared to the average Twitter user, but then again a college football coach probably has a lot less time on his hands than your average Twitter user. There's a lot of congratulating players on their achievements and other things you'd expect from a football coach, but this is probably the tweet that stands out the most:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.Lena Horne</p>— Buzz Preston(@CoachBuzzPres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBuzzPres/status/303686443530862592">February 19, 2013</a></blockquote>

Good quote. Reminds me of something my grandfather would send me in an email titled "FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: GOOD LIFE LESSONS FOR YOUNG FOLKS" but still, good quote. Coach Preston is sure to be a good follow for recruiting fanatics, as he's one of the lead guys out on the recruiting trail and is one of Tech's very best. He's also my favorite coach because he's the one I've had the most interaction with, and is a very down to earth and jolly person.

Lamar Owens, A-Backs Coach

@OwenLamar's first tweet: Feb. 12th, 2013. Another good follow for recruiting fans, coach Owens is a very affable and outgoing man in real life and is the same way on Twitter. He tweets about once a day, a lot of it is something to the effect of "Let's go get it." It's pretty similar to the student athletes' Twitter feeds except without the silliness that they sometimes like to engage in. With recruiting season kicking back into high gear, there's sure to be interesting content coming down the pipe soon from one of our top recruiters. There's cool anecdotes now, though, like if you want to get a vauge idea of the football team's practice schedule or other such oddities.

Ted Roof, Defensive Coordinator

@CoachTedRoof's first tweet: Feb. 22nd, 2013. Not one of the more active GT Coaches on Twitter (he's only put out seven tweets since he opened his account as of this writing), there's not really enough content to judge what this account will be like. For what it's worth, he was a very likable and friendly guy in the interview I did with him a while back, so whatever it ends up being it should be good. Anyways, this picture is the most interesting thing on his feed right now:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Great to see @<a href="https://twitter.com/bigplaycj">bigplaycj</a> this week, love how he supports <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23GaTech">#GaTech</a>! Perfect example of hard work & class for our team. <a href="http://t.co/ppRmEyYJfl" title="http://twitter.com/CoachTedRoof/status/304980346674507776/photo/1">twitter.com/CoachTedRoof/s…</a></p>— Ted Roof (@CoachTedRoof) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachTedRoof/status/304980346674507776">February 22, 2013</a></blockquote>

Mike Sewak, Offensive Line Coach

There is no content on his feed (@CoachMikeSewak) at this time.

Preston Pehrson, Graduate Assistant (Offense)

@CoachPehrson's first tweet: Jan. 30th, 2013. The second member of the football staff to join Twitter, Pehrson is one of the youngest coaches, and frankly I'm a little surprised he didn't join Twitter beforehand. Regardless, he's the definitely the most comfortable with the concept of Twitter of the coaches we've covered so far. He's tweeted a lot of pictures of his personal life and is all over this thing called "The Migration." As far as I can tell, The Migration deals with trying to get recruits from the North to come down South to Georgia Tech. I say this because of tweets like these:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Atlanta is ranked the #1 city to live in! <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23themigration">#themigration</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23GTFootball">#GTFootball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23GT">#GT</a></p>— CoachPreston Pehrson (@CoachPehrson) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachPehrson/status/307999584611872771">March 2, 2013</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The migration must be very interesting! <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23TheMigration">#TheMigration</a> <a href="http://t.co/3YQD2BsTLp" title="http://twitter.com/CoachPehrson/status/307579097259864064/photo/1">twitter.com/CoachPehrson/s…</a></p>— CoachPreston Pehrson (@CoachPehrson) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachPehrson/status/307579097259864064">March 1, 2013</a></blockquote>

This guy is a must-follow for recruitment watchers, because he seems to be spearheading the effort to get the GT name out to recruits on Twitter. Also, he seems to be confirming that the North is becoming quickly an area of great focus and effort for GT recruiting.

Joe Speed, Inside Linebackers Coach

@RamblinSpeed's first tweet: Feb. 13th, 2013. Seems to be another younger guy who has the hang of the tweeting concept. He tweets a lot of photos, ranging from a beautiful view of the stadium at night to prospect camps. Lots of good info here; if you're looking for good first-person insight into what's going on inside the program, he's probably your best bet.

Maurice Duncan Jr., Graduate Assistant (Defense)

@CoachDuncanGT's first tweet: July 4th, 2011. Duncan is the longest-tenured coach on Twitter, and uses it frequently. His are the most personal tweets, but always entertaining. A very energetic young coach, he's in tune with the players and interacts with them the most that I've seen. If you want to get an insight to the culture of the football program, he's probably your best follow.

Brian Bohannon, QB and B-Backs Coach

@BohannonBrian's first tweet: Feb. 28th. Coach Bo only has one tweet, so there's not really much to talk about. Here it is for posterity, though:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Yellow Jackets got better this morning#GTFootball</p>— Brian Bohannon (@BohannonBrian) <a href="https://twitter.com/BohannonBrian/status/307102981336219648">February 28, 2013</a></blockquote>

Anyone out there got some Twitter tips for our coaching staff? Who's your favorite follow?