Crimson Corner: To Nick Saban, Alabama Football is his Social Media Platform
It's no secret that Nick Saban is not the biggest fan of social media. Heck, the Alabama football coach claimed that he had never sent an email or a text message prior to last spring. Previously, Saban said that all of his digital correspondence had gone through his wife, Terry, until the pandemic forced her to say "I'm not dealing with your stuff anymore."
The COVID-19 pandemic has done nothing but give a shot in the arm to an already bustling social media industry. In 2019, the industry was worth approximately $45.4 billion. Following the ongoing period where people have been staying at home and quarantining and being forced to utilize social media as a primary means of communicating with friends and family, that value has shot up to an estimated $62.5 billion — an increase of approximated 37 percent.
There's no doubt that in today's world, social media is a must-have for the majority of Americans. While it was already wildly popular prior to the pandemic, COVID-19 boosted digital platforms to whole new levels.
If you don't think so, think about this: had you ever even heard of Zoom prior to the pandemic?
This writer had not, but maybe those that attended virtual meetings more frequently than I did prior to the pandemic had. It certainly wasn't mentioned as often in the sports media field, that much is certain.
Among Baby Boomers, social media has grown by leaps and bounds in the last five years. Usage of social media by the older generation was already growing prior to the pandemic, but once again, COVID-19 propelled its usage.
So how does this relate to Saban?
If you're a fan of SEC football, you're probably very well aware of some of the social media antics of its coaches. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State coach Mike Leach are both known for their humorous posts, with Kiffin often 'trolling' fans and critics while Leach posts silly memes and other irreverent material.
Of the coaches of the SEC, 12 of 14 have Twitter accounts, with Saban and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher being the only two absent.
Fans and media alike have asked Saban why he doesn't have social media for years. Every time, he has skirted around the issue and claimed that people don't care to know what he thinks.
Social media does a lot to help programs with recruiting. The Alabama Football Twitter account has over one million followers. The way to reach today's young generations is through social media platforms. Twitter, Instagram and TikTok have fully integrated themselves into the lives of young people, making them must-haves in order to keep up in today's fast-paced world.
Coaches use this to their advantage, often sharing tweets from signees and athletes to not only promote the athletes themselves, but also their respective football programs.
On Wednesday, Saban told reporters what it would take to get him on social media.
"I would say this, if I thought it would enhance players’ chances to improve their brand by something that I did, I would be all for it," he said.
I'm not exactly sure that he realizes what kind of brand-boosting power he would have should he ever choose to download the Twitter app on his smartphone. Then again, he might be very well aware of that fact and simply choose not to follow that pursuit.
That being said, Saban has recruited top class after top class without the use of social media. It's clearly something that he doesn't need to have in order to adapt.
He has a marketing department and a recruiting team to take care of that. To those of you that demand that Saban create a social media platform because it would help the Alabama brand, you're probably correct. However, does he really need it?
To Saban, Alabama football is his brand. When people think of the Crimson Tide, Saban is one of the first faces to pop into their minds. He is directly associated with Alabama in every facet of the organization. As stated earlier, he clearly doesn't need to join social media in order to give his recruiting game a boost. He already dominates in that department year in and year out.
So while Saban hopping onto social media would certainly be a newsworthy item at this stage in his career, it's certainly not a necessity. Alabama will continue to trudge forward, regardless of whether Saban is using hashtags on Twitter.
The Alabama football brand is Nick Saban, and Nick Saban is the Alabama football brand. The two are intertwined, both leaning on the other. At the end of the day, Saban creating a social media account wouldn't have too large of an impact on its overall brand. Sure, it'd be nice to see Saban's perspective on things from time to time, but why do we continue to believe that it would help with recruiting when the Crimson Tide is continually in the top three in the nation?
In my opinion, those one million followers of Alabama football on Twitter are essentially Nick Saban's followers. He frequently goes viral, and he doesn't even need to create his own content.
Feel free to share that on your favorite social media platform.
