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Football Recruiting

Syracuse football recruits face new realities from fans, coaches in digital age

Dani Pendergast | Art Director

Syracuse recruits face the realities of the digital age of recruiting where they are contacted by coaches and fans. SU commits took pictures with fans at the games.

By Paul SchwedelsonSenior Staff Writer

Seventeen-year-old Moe Neal strolled through the Carrier Dome concourse before being stopped by 37-year-old Garth Lee. The Syracuse football fan had never met Neal in person, but still recognized him based on photos he’s seen on the Internet.

Lee said hello to the Class of 2016 Syracuse commit and asked for a photo. Lee, who goes by “Cuse44Life” on Twitter, posted the photo and Neal retweeted it to his near-2,000 followers at the time.

“It was a great feeling knowing the fans know you and you’re not even there yet at the school,” Neal said. “I look back on it now and I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’”

Welcome to college football recruiting in the digital age.

Ten years ago, fans didn’t have access to recruits the way they do today. Online recruiting services were just gaining traction and Twitter wasn’t created until 2006. Now, adults can communicate with high schoolers at any time. While this new era of recruiting has both positives and negatives, it’s one more thing for teenagers to think about.

“I think there’s a lot of noise for those youngsters to have to sort through while they’re trying to enjoy being a high school student-athlete,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “And I feel bad for them. I tell almost every parent that comes in here, I feel bad for the way recruiting is now.”

A group of Syracuse fans send encouraging tweets to recruits. The messages mention the Orange’s potential return to prominence or the teammates that recruit might have if they choose SU.

The group, which is part of a larger Syracuse fan contingent on Twitter that brands itself with #CuseTwitterArmy, also makes Photoshopped images and hype videos for recruits. Prior to Neal committing to the Orange, a YouTube video titled “Moe Neal’s Journey To Cuse” detailed how he could help the Orange win its second-ever national title.

“I love it, man. It’s a great feeling to know you’re being followed and a lot of people can’t wait to see you play at the next level,” Neal said. “And they really believe in me (and that) I could change the program around.”

Joe Price (“Joey ‘Cuse” on Twitter), 48, also tweets at recruits often. He tweets photos of his fishing adventures since he said a lot of recruits enjoy fishing and might not realize the options they have near Syracuse.

The Baldwinsville, New York, resident followed the recruitment of Malik Brown, who flipped from Syracuse to Tennessee on signing day in 2013. Price said when Tennessee offered Brown a scholarship, Brown gained 2,000 Twitter followers, which Price said “blew the kid’s skirt up.”

“I think (Twitter’s impact) is bigger than people think. A small private school like we have here, we’re slugging with the big boys,” Price said. “… There’s a lot of things people don’t know about the area. The sun does come out up here. It doesn’t snow year-round.”

Price mentioned interactions with recruits’ parents as being valuable. Providing advice on hotels and restaurants helps the families feel more at home, he said.

Unfiltered access does come with negative aspects. Though Class of 2016 Syracuse commit Sam Heckel said he enjoys the Photoshoped images he’s received, the amount of times coaches have reached out to him on social media was “too much.”

“The social media aspect really changes the game,” Heckel said. “It must have been a lot different 10 years ago.”

The NCAA’s restrictions on contact via Twitter is looser than it is with other types of contact like phone calls. Starting on Sept. 1 of a high schooler’s junior year, there are no limitations on direct messages. SU director of recruiting operations Eric White said the Orange is “on top of it,” which provides a key advantage that other schools might not capitalize on.

With both fans and coaches keeping an eye on players’ accounts, attention on social media is at an all-time high.

“It’s nuts. It’s crazy. We’ll start recruiting a kid and before you know it, they’ll blow up,” White said, “… A kid will get thousands of followers after each offer he gets from each fan base. It’s kind of amusing.”

Both Neal and Heckel recognize that they can’t just say anything they feel like on Twitter. They know people are watching and a mistake could reflect poorly on their character.

But the issue isn’t isolated to Syracuse. Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said it’s not healthy for college football, high school football or the high schoolers themselves. Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said sometimes reports will come out that his team offered a scholarship to someone who he’s never heard of before.

“(Social media) definitely affects them, probably not for the good,” Johnson said. “I think the recruiting part gets blown out of proportion a little bit and it’s hard for the young men who are getting recruited.”

When players don’t choose a certain school, sometimes those fans tweet angrily at the player. Neither Lee nor Price said they follow that practice, and when it does occur, oftentimes other fans will insist they respect the high schooler’s decision.

“You got to keep it in the back of your mind, yeah, they are still in high school,” Lee said. “Some of them are (sophomores) and (juniors) and they are still young and impressionable. So you just got to keep it a little professional.”

That’s why Steve McDuffie monitors his son, Class of 2017 SU commit Isaiah McDuffie on social media and tells the players he coaches at Bennett (New York) High School to be careful with it. Tweeting without thinking could alter a player’s status with a coaching staff, Steve McDuffie said.

He recognizes that Twitter could also be used as a learning tool, but ultimately, mentors must be involved.

“Kids have to realize that you can’t react to everything that’s said,” Steve McDuffie said. “You’ll get negative things like you’ll get positive things and that’s just social media and that’s why it has to be monitored.”

Fans have a platform unlike ever before and teenagers are being pulled in all different directions.

Neal said he’s had fans tweeting at him since he was a freshman in high school and being recognized by another stranger in the Carrier Dome didn’t startle him. It was just another aspect of the altered recruiting landscape.

“Now you have to say well that’s the new reality, the new formula and how to adjust to it,” Shafer said, “and how to put ourselves in position to take advantage of the things that can help us.”





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