University of Central Florida defensive back’s coach Kirk Callahan knows a thing or two about Hillsborough County football. Callahan was a 4 year letterman at Armwood High School where he played for his father, Sean Callahan. Coach Callahan is a rising star in college football coaching and has already held positions under Butch Davis, Will Muschamp and Urban Myer. It was a privilege to be able to sit down with him this week and speak to him about several issues that every high school football player needs to know about recruiting. Big County Preps will have a special three part series revolving around this interview and the topics will consist of college junior days, how UCF decides what high school athletes to offer and finally the positive and negative aspects of social media.

Part 2: Social Media

Today’s college coach has more access to potential recruits than ever before and as the world of college athletics continues to become more competitive this access through things such as social media will only grow in importance. Coach Callahan was very blunt on the subject of social media stating that, “It is a great asset to college coaches because it gives us an insight on the kids that we are recruiting. For the kids it can either help or hurt their recruitment depending what they are broadcasting to the general public.” For all the student athletes reading this article it is essential to understand that coaches watch your every move on Facebook and Twitter.

There is a good reason college coach’s monitor the players that they are recruiting. The have a limited amount of scholarships that are worth close to $50,000 a year. This $50,000 includes your books, tuition and room/board. It is a huge financial risk for universities to invest in student athletes that do not perform; therefore, coaches need to make certain that the players they recruit are both good on the field and off it. Coach Callahan said that, “There are numerous players in the Tampa Bay area every year we will not offer because of things we see them post on social media.” It is critical that you do not post anything on social media that could portray you in a negative light. Players should be conscious of the groups they are joining, the pictures of themselves that are being posted or any interactions between themselves and others.

Coach Callahan stated that he personally looked at, “Who the recruits were associating themselves with, what were they doing, and how they reacted to certain situations.” The coaches are not just digging for dirt they also want to learn as much information as they can on the recruit in order to have plenty of topics of conversation for when they actually speak to them; hence, the good part of social media is that it allows coaches to build a more interpersonal relationship with the players they are recruiting. Coach Callahan says, “Essentially we are trying to see what type of people potential recruits are and social media helps us determine if they are the type of people that are a good fit for what we are doing at UCF.” In today hi-tech society it is essential that everyone, not just potential football recruits, monitor what they put out over the web. All high school students need to be aware that your school, potential employers and the police frequently scrutinize social media.

I have linked a story about how twitter has totally destroyed the lives of several athletes in the small town of Steubenville, Ohio. PLEASE READ THIS

– Anthony Peace