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Vandebilt Catholic girls basketball coach Kathy Luke is old school.
She’s the first person to admit that she doesn’t understand the intricacies or hoopla regarding social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
“I’d rather enjoy a conversation and talk to someone face-to-face,” Luke said. “But that’s just me.”
But the longtime coach admitted ignorance isn’t naivety – she knows her players are in the social media generation.
As a result, Luke also knows the technology is changing the entire sports landscape.
Luke admitted that she keeps her eyes and ears open to the things being said about Vandebilt basketball on the Internet.
She is joined by a slew of other local coaches who said they take time to warn their players to proceed with caution regarding the words and pictures that they place on social media.
“I just try to tell our players that once you put something out there, it’s out there,” Luke said. “You can’t get it back. You can’t say I’m sorry to all of the people who have read it. … It’s a new challenge to us as coaches, but it’s a challenge that’s very real.”
“As coaches, we do definitely talk about it in our locker room,” Central Catholic football coach David Fuhrer added. “We just want to warn our players that the things they say can come back to get them if it’s not something that’s representative of the ways that players want to portray themselves.”
Attention raised after T’eo saga
Local coaches mostly have the same basic philosophy regarding social media – no concrete plan is in place to limit or ban use by players.
But in lieu of multiple incidents around the country, including Notre Dame’s saga with Manti T’eo, coaches agree that they make an effort to closely monitor what’s being said by players, staff and parents about their respective teams.
Thibodaux High School football coach Chris Dugas said he tells everyone involving Tigers’ football – including parents – to avoid negative posts on the Internet.
He said he urges people in the Thibodaux football community to pick another outlet when situations arise that warrant attention.
“The Internet is not a place to air out your dirty business,” Dugas said. “We don’t have a true plan in place over here, but we definitely let them know that they should be cautious.”
Morgan City football coach and athletic director Brandon Nowlin agreed with Dugas’ assessment.
The coach and former LSU football player added that his message to players runs deeper than football and athletics.
“It’s really not even anything to do with sports,” Nowlin said. “We want them to just be mindful of anything that they say in general. We were warned about it when we were in school at LSU and the whole Twitter thing wasn’t even that big then.
“Now, it’s so much bigger. You just have to ask yourself if once you hit send, are you sure you’re ready to say what you’re about to say?”
Social media’s traps also extend beyond words – photos and videos are fair game, as well.
Nicholls State men’s basketball coach J.P. Piper said the Colonels have not had major issues regarding Facebook or Twitter posts since the technological boom that’s now a few years old.
“We’ve been fortunate,” Piper said. “It’s not like LSU or any of those places for us.”
But the coach said there have been instances where his players have been indirectly photographed or videoed dancing at parties or bars – situations that he has used as a teaching tool to show that players should always act as if someone is watching them.
“My guys go out to one of the college bars and they’re dancing and having a good time and then someone else has a camera and captures them in a moment that maybe they don’t want captured,” Piper said. “It’s not like they’re doing anything wrong – they just don’t want it up there. So they’ll come back later and say, ‘But Coach, I didn’t even put it up there. Someone else did.’
“And that’s 100 percent true, but I just urge them that they have to be careful. I tell them that because of who they are, those pictures are interesting. If they weren’t college athletes, no one would care that that picture is there. But they are, so they have to be careful of what’s going on.”
The reason for such a cautious approach is because of how quickly something can become “viral” and be showcased to hundreds, thousands or even millions of people.
Use Facebook as an example.
If an athlete has 300 online friends (a very modest number for the average student-athlete), every time they post a status update, all 300 of those people can see it.
If any one of their friends likes or comments on the status, it becomes fair game to the friend’s friends, too, via the newsfeed. If the friend’s friends like or comment, the cycle continues – and so on.
On Twitter, it’s the same basic scenario.
If an individual has 300 followers, every Tweet they make will be broadcast to every one of those followers.
If anyone comments or retweets the message, all of the follower’s followers will be exposed to the Tweet, as well.
“It’s not a local thing or even a region-wide thing,” Nowlin said. “It’s really a national and global kind of thing. Everything that’s said can end up being something that everybody can see.”
“Once it’s out there, it’s out there,” Luke added. “And you don’t necessarily know who’s reading it – that’s the danger. If I talk to someone in person or on the phone, I know who I’m talking to. But if I send something online, it’s there and it’s free to millions and millions of people.”
Colleges and employers are watching, too
Luke mentioned the millions of people patrolling the Internet for information.
Some of the people in that large group are college coaches aiming to recruit new players into their respective programs.
Piper was quick to admit that his assistant coaches monitor the things that recruits say on the Internet before offering that player a scholarship.
“We check,” Piper said. “We most definitely check. Right now, in this day in age, we Google them. Everything’s there. Anything that they’ve done that they shouldn’t have done is there. From Google, you get access to their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. There’s no hiding. It’s all there.
“My assistants are all over that stuff.”
When asked if a player would be evaluated more favorably if they handled themselves with class online, Piper again had a quick answer.
“Absolutely,” he said. “We tell our kids up-front about this. If we’re serious about them, we tell them that they need to be careful what they put on Facebook, because we’re looking.”
Nicholls isn’t the only school to utilize social media.
Nowlin said when he was at LSU, he was aware of assistant coaches checking on players through the Internet.
“I think pretty much everyone does that now,” Nowlin said.
Dugas agreed and added that he’s heard of players losing scholarships because of things said online.
“It’s a sad situation, but it happens,” Dugas said. “That’s in a nutshell why we take this as seriously as we do.”
“And another thing worth adding is that we’re not the only ones out there doing this,” Piper added. “Employers are, too. We tell our guys to be extra careful because the people looking to hire them when they’re done here are looking, too.
“Anytime you post something, think about what your mother would say if she read it or if it’s a photo, think about what your grandmother would say if she saw it. If it would embarrass those people then don’t say it. Don’t post it. Don’t take a picture of it.”
Like everything else, social media will eventually evolve into a different form of communication.
Until then, coaches are on high alert to try and keep up with it.
Even the old school ones like Luke who isn’t overly experienced in the world of Tweets and status updates.
“I’m old-school and I’m the minority here,” Luke said. “It’d be silly to be ignorant to the fact that it’s there. The kids love it and we know this is here with us for a while. It’s just up to us as coaches to change with the times and to adjust to put our players in the best possible positions to excel.”
Vandebilt Catholic sophomore Patrick Voisin sends a text message on his phone following basketball practice Monday afternoon at the school’s campus. With texting and social media becoming more common in today’s world, many local coaches said this week that they are keeping their eyes on what is being said on the Internet to avoid possible distractions.
