Miami helmets circled Mark Richt as he casually sat in a black two-seat leather recliner, hands near his sides. He was awaiting his cue.

In a moment, a Hurricanes staffer would turn on the camera and record a three-second post of Richt flashing “The U.” It would be Miami’s new coach’s first 2016 signing-day Twitter post, and it followed Richt’s post on Tuesday, that one a video of Richt signaling “The U” from his desk. That video lasts two seconds.

Welcome to the U!! pic.twitter.com/UipyK61KoG — Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) February 3, 2016

Assembling a recruiting class on short notice isn’t unique to Richt, who moved to Athens, Georgia, in January 2001 to become the Bulldogs’ new coach. Signing day is annually the first Wednesday in February.

“The bottom line is finding the best players still available that would really love to be a Cane,” Richt said Wednesday.

Unavailable to Richt 15 years ago when he arrived at Georgia was a medium to reach a large pool of recruits and make an impression to catch up on teams that were recruiting them for months if not years. Richt could now flash “The U” and have it loaded to Twitter and on the screens of thousands of prospects almost instantaneously.

Sales pitches weren’t limited to just videos of Rich. Miami assistant Ron Dugans uploaded images of picturesque skylines, steak dinners, Heat superstar Dwyane Wade and South Beach donks, slang for an old-school car sitting on 20-inch chrome rims, to excite recruits.

Richt dabbed on a Miami beach. He quoted rappers Drake and Future. Over a 12-day period, he posted 18 tweets. Sixteen documented the city he was recruiting in that day as part of Miami’s “Road Warrior” series. Coaches once tried to keep it secret which areas they were recruiting. Miami was broadcasting it to the college football world.

For weeks, staffers besieged Twitter with the #Swag16 hashtag.

The changes in the recruiting landscape helped build Miami’s class, ranked No. 19 nationally, in a way that did not exist to Richt when he had to scramble at Georgia. In the days leading up to signing day, Nebraska staffer Ryan Gunderson told ESPN.com’s Jeremy Crabtree “Nothing has impacted recruiting more in the last 20 years than social media.” Richt credits social media some for its role in signing 18 players Wednesday.

“Almost every single young man has a Twitter account,” Richt said.

On top of the branding opportunities it offered Richt and his new staff, it opened up communication with prospects. While coaches can’t text prospects, social media messages are permitted.

“If you a direct message a guy it’s just about the same [as a text],” Richt said. “It does help you get up with a guy and a lot of these kids would rather direct message a little more than they would talk. I’ve got my own children that’ll be in the same room and texting each other.

“That’s the way kids communicate these days.”

It’s the way Miami communicated with them, too, and now the Hurricanes are already off to a great start to their #SqUad17 class.