EUGENE -- It used to be that Oregon's football coach appeared on the first Wednesday in February -- the first day high school football players can sign binding letters of intent with colleges -- and revealed a recruiting class whose creation was largely hush-hush.



Under coaches Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich, UO went out of its way not to publicize how it recruited. That arm's-length approach to social media increasingly became the exception, however, as opposing staffs embraced Twitter and other platforms as a controlled method of providing fans, media and recruits -- the true target audience -- with on-brand, behind-the-scenes views of life inside a major program.



What once might have been a joke is now accepted truth: If a coaching staff goes recruiting but doesn't tweet about it, did their in-home visit really happen?



"The Ducks were kind of the last ones in the Pac-12 to really adopt that, which is ironic because they were so cutting-edge in so many other aspects with the uniforms and brand marketing," said Brandon Huffman, the national recruiting director for Scout. "They were definitely lapped by the field."



When Willie Taggart unveils his first class as UO coach Wednesday, that has all changed.



In the social media age, the public has never been given such an up-close look at Oregon recruiting until Taggart's hiring less than two months ago.

Taggart and his staffers tweet about their travel itineraries. They post photos from airports, parking lots, before visits to high schools, during games of laser tag and after making snow angels inside Autzen Stadium. Behind the scenes, they're constantly chatting with players via Twitter's private, direct message option. There is even communication about communication: On Jan. 29, a recruit got off the phone with Taggart, then tweeted about the phone call, which Taggart then retweeted. He is allowed to do so by NCAA rules changes, which took effect last summer, that deregulated electronic communication.



Oregon "has never had this recruiting component before," said Andrew Nemec, a recruiting reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive. "People said, can it really matter this much? It matters to these kids to have hundreds and hundreds of people reaching out. Taggart and his staff aren't hiding it."



From electronic clues -- "Tomorrow Vegas, LA and San Fran in one day," defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt tweeted Jan. 24 -- recruiting-savvy fans and journalists can infer which players the coaches are likely to see.

One hashtag Taggart and recruits include in countless tweets, #QuackAttack17, came about in a conversation between the coach and recruit Bruce Judson, said Matt Prehm, a senior writer for 247Sports site DuckTerritory.



"Judson told me Taggart wanted a way on social media they could push the momentum of this class," Prehm said.



While a staff's enthusiasm to tweet might cause a school's compliance office more work making sure the communication is NCAA-approved, the dividends can go far. The ultimate goal: ensure that the student-athlete experience at a particular school is always on a recruit's radar.



"There's been a sea change versus the old staff," said A.J. Jacobson, the publisher of Duck Sports Authority, a Rivals site. "We always kind of know what the coaches are up to now. I think that's something that's fun for fans. I've been putting things on my message boards for fans (about coaches' travels) and they just eat that stuff up."



A coach's comfort manning his virtual social media profile will never replace his ability to sell a program's vision to a recruit in person, Nemec cautioned. UO's new way of using social media also isn't revolutionary by itself. Leavitt was tweeting about his love of Pepsi at Colorado long before he joined UO in mid-December. Last fall, UO unveiled a uniform combination in a novel way by sending recruits images of their names digitally added on the back of the jerseys, then encouraging them to show the set to the world via Twitter.



But the embrace of social media across the board by UO's new staff, recruiting analysts said, suggests that coaches, and not just the athletic department's in-house marketing and communication department, understand more than ever the importance of keeping up appearances online, where recruits spend much of their time.

Phone calls and text messages are nice. Private direct messages on Twitter and a well-placed "fire" emoji might be better. Retweeting a prospect's tweet is akin to a digital atta-boy.

Though difficult to determine whether, or how much, Oregon's use of social media has influenced its recruiting success, recruiting analysts say the free advertising hasn't hurt. Recruits' tweets from UO's gaudy facilities can create a fear of missing out in peers not on the visits, Prehm said. On Jan. 20, UO recruit Darrian McNeal, a Florida native, tweeted that "I now see why coaches don't want they kids to come out here. 'Other programs'. I been to a lot of schools. The big 3 in Fla can't touch this." The message was retweeted 228 times, including by several UO staffers.

I now see why coaches don't want they kids to come out here. "Other programs". I been to a lot of schools. The big 3 in Fla can't touch this — "DM" (@DarrianMcNeal1) January 21, 2017

"It's definitely creating a buzz about Taggart, his assistants and his program," Huffman said. "I think there might be some worry from other conference schools that now Oregon is getting involved in social media."

Oregon ranked in the mid-40s in recruiting rankings nationally when Taggart was hired, depending on the ranking used, but now could finish in the top-15. Oregon's outreach in Florida gets much of the attention, Nemec said, but its success in California is notable. A year after Oregon failed to sign any of California's top 45 players, according to Rivals rankings, UO has commitments from four in the top-45 entering signing day.



"Oregon wanted to live in the dark ages of pre-social media about how much the public knew about its recruitment," Nemec said. "This staff is aggressive, and engaged in it."



That modernization online mirrors other differences between the former staff and the new one, analysts said. UO is now much more liberal at offering scholarships, which can be verified when, for example, a coach "likes" a recruit's tweet announcing his UO offer. Huffman said that interactivity has helped him parse legitimate scholarship offers from fakes that are touted by recruits as a risky way of creating buzz.

In the past, one of the few indicators that Oregon had added a recruit was when Helfrich followed a recruit on Twitter. (Twitter allows direct messaging when two accounts follow one another).

Now, Taggart and his position coaches hint at commitments the same way many other coaches around the country do -- with a vague, celebratory tweet. (Crafted in such a way, of course, that it does not run afoul of NCAA rules prohibiting coaches from naming recruits prior to signing day.)

Soon after Florida receiver Daewood Davis verbally committing to UO Sunday, the rest of the world knew UO had just received its 20th commitment, too.



"The Ducks just got faster," Taggart tweeted. "Let's Get it."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif