FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas has pulled off a first in college football with the 2013 season still more than seven weeks away.
The Razorbacks unveiled the cover of their 2013 media guide Wednesday, which Arkansas is touting as the first to feature the Twitter handle of its coach and players.
First-year Coach Bret Bielema (@BretBielema), who has proven to be well versed when it comes to social media trends, is featured front and center, with senior stars Kiero Small (@ KieroSmall36), Travis Swanson (@TSWAN64) and Chris Smith (@42ARKANSAS) arranged below him.
“I think it’s cool and unique,” Swanson said.
“In today’s world of college football, anything you can do to help fans everywhere connect with your players is a positive,” Bielema said through a university spokesman. “We want to be creative and uncommon to our approach in building our brand to be one of the best in college athletics.”
Small said social media is huge.
“That’s the way fans connect with us nowadays,” he said. “It’s a big deal to have your Twitter account on the front, and it’s also a big responsibility.”
Zack Higbee, Arkansas’ assistant athletic director for media relations, said all the Razorbacks have undergone training on the proper use of social media.
“I think it’s something that those three can deal with, and it’s attention they deserve,” Higbee said. “Anything that gets media and fans’ attention this time of year is good for our program.”
Smith said he noticed a jump in his followers after Bielema posted a picture of the cover on Twitter.
“Small had been giving me grief about having less followers, so maybe this will help,” Smith said.
Bielema and the three seniors will represent the Razorbacks at SEC media days Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.
Sports, Pages 20 on 07/11/2013