Tulsa Coach Takes On Twitter Craze

By Kyle Dierking,  NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- They scored 661 points, had 87 touchdowns and totaled nearly 8,000 yards of offense last season.

So while everything about TU's offense is big, there's a small and succinct game its offensive coordinator is playing.

"It's almost like our coaching style around here," said Herb Hand, TU offensive coordinator. "We want to coach in short, verbal blasts. That's kind of what Twitter is."

It's getting to know Hand 140 characters at a time. The TU assistant coach is taking on the Twitter craze and is putting less pigskin and more personality into his posts.

"A lot of times it comes down to the personal contact you have with kids," Hand said. "If one of the guys that's following me on Twitter feels like, ‘I really got to know coach Hand,' that's how kids in that 17 to 21 year age range communicate."

From family updates to news about Tulsa - even sharing his favorite songs, Hand is reaching out to recruits and his fan base. In other words, his followers.

"It's just a way to let people know about my personality and let people know where I'm coming from," Hand said.

While Twitter has been given the OK by the NCAA for means of communication with recruits, there's a few catches. Coaches can't mention potential players by name and they can only trade direct messages during designated contact periods.

 "We always think that they need to come to where we're at," Hand said, "but we want to try and reach them where they're at."

Following Oklahoma College Athletics On Twitter

University of Tulsa Athletics: TulsaHurricane

Tulsa football coach Todd Graham: CoachToddGraham

Tulsa Offensive Coordinator Herb Hand: CoachHand

Oklahoma State University Athletics: OKStateCom

Oklahoma State basketball coach Travis Ford: CoachFord5

Oklahoma State Wrestling: CowboyWrestling

University of Oklahoma Athletics: SoonerSportsCom

Oklahoma Football Coach Bob Stoops: BobStoops

Oklahoma basketball coach Jeff Capel: JeffCapel

Former Oklahoma basketball player Blake Griffin: BlakeGriffin

Oklahoma women's basketball coach Sherri Coale: SherriCoale

Oklahoma women's basketball player Danielle Robinson: OU_DRob

Oklahoma women's basketball player Whitney Hand: OU_whitneyhand

Oklahoma softball player Lindsey Vandever: ou_linzvandever

Oklahoma softball player Amber Flores: ou_amberflores

Oklahoma rowing coach Leeanne Crain: leeannecrain

Oklahoma soccer coach Nicole Nelson: SoonerSoccer

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