As any college football fan knows, recruiting is the lifeblood of a big-time program. One or two good recruiting classes can elevate
a team to more wins, a bigger bowl game, more money, etc. Conversely, one or two bad classes can lead to less wins, less money, and the loss of jobs for coaches and administrators. Often, it is one or two players that make or break a season, or seasons.
Boston College, just around the corner from Overdrive, has had some good seasons recently, but in the past few years has really fallen on hard times, hitting rock bottom with a 2-10 season on 2012. And the reason? You guessed it … recruiting.
So with a new coaching staff in place, the program has taken to social media in a renewed effort to upgrade recruiting, as outlined in this Sports Illustrated article. First, their new coach joined Twitter and forced all other coaches to do the same.
Then, one coach started using the #beadude hashtag, which went viral and has now become the teams unofficial mantra. It’s now included in Tweets announcing new player commitments. BC also uses Instagram and has begun experimenting with Vine as well.
This is a great example of leveraging social media to gain an advantage and to grow a brand. And the fact that there are really no limits to social media’s effectiveness. Kudos for the BC coaches for stepping out of their comfort zone and embracing social media platforms.
