We’ve seen programs grow increasingly aware of the social media presence their players have and taken steps to help them grow their own little followings in recent years. USC and Stanford are two programs who put their players’ handles on the depth chart for games and you’re bound to see schools from Clemson to Texas to Washington mention their players on bigger accounts instead of simply typing out their name.
Temple is putting them all to shame however by using Saturday’s Cherry and White spring game to really matchup players with their social media profile by putting Twitter handles on the back of the jerseys. Yes, really:
JERSEYS READY @Temple_FB #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ #TempleTUFF ♦️ pic.twitter.com/YgKRMqJK98
— Coach Collins (@CoachCollins) April 14, 2018
TWITTER GAME S’][‘RONG. ♦️♦️♦️ pic.twitter.com/FGkK1Drps7
— ♦️♦️♦️ S.W.A.G. ♦️♦️♦️ (@SWAGcoordinator) April 14, 2018
Kudos to head coach Geoff Collins and his staff for making this move, as that’s a step beyond what some would even consider doing in today’s day and age. Kind of makes it even more ridiculous that programs like Michigan even fail to put out a basic depth chart for games when the Owls are doing this to connect fans with players in a very unique way.
Heck, who knows, maybe for next year’s game those that score a touchdown or force a turnover can then receive a big blue check mark from Twitter in return to really take this whole thing to the next level.