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Grading the Rutgers coaches' Twitter games

By Griffin Whitmer
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

HC Chris Ash | C

=The head man's Twitter game is really disappointing. It is basically him recycling graphics created for him. I'd like for him to show more excitement and be more original. I'm not asking for him to be Jim Harbaugh, but Ash's twitter game is the identical to the head coach he replaced. Although Ash doesn't have the lowest grade, he is the one I am most disappointed in.

OC Drew Mehringer | A

Mehringer is the total package on twitter. He is very active, and has a nice blend of personal tweets, football tweets, and retweets. He does a great job of getting fans excited with teases of recruits that he talks too. He has great energy and is everything you would expect from one of the youngest coaches on the staff.

DC/LBs Jay Niemann| C+

Niemann is not very active, but epitomizes quality over quantity. He gets props for confirming the return of the chopper and I think he is the creator of the hashtag "#uknightedwestand". However, he never introduced himself when he got the job and has failed to tweet without a picture, something I consider a big deal.

ST/TEs Vince Okruch | C-

I love his story and his eagerness on the recruiting trail. However, Okruch had "The egg" as his avi for weeks after being named coach and also referred to Twitter as "tweeter":
If you don't want to look at his whole profile, just imagine what it would be like if your grandfather had a Twitter.

RBs Jafar Williams | B

Williams has not been on the staff long enough to get a thorough grade. For the time being, he gets a B.

WRs Zak Kuhr | A+

So far, Kuhr has the best tweet in the short history of this staff:

He is also all over the place with his Twitter, from pictures of staff dinners to his office, he presents great variety and the quality is always top notch. He is very active and always keeps us fans updated. Great energy. Great guy. Great Twitter feed.

OL AJ Blazek | A+

AJ Blazek is my favorite coach on the staff. He seems like the nicest guy ever and always looks happy. He has done an amazing job of documenting his journey to Rutgers, keeping us updated on where he goes to eat to where he spends his nights and even giving us a peek in his binder of offensive lineman. No coach seems as passionate and excited for this team as Blazek. He is what you'd consider a must-follow.

DL Shane Burnham | A-

Burnham scores major points for introducing Rutgers Twitter to the slogan "If you're juiceless, you're useless". Also, this:

Wouldn't want to mess with this guy or his players. He is also very good with replies and has a good balance of tweets with and without pictures. He is definitely an underdog in the Twitter game since he isn't young and flashy like Mehringer and Kuhr. Don't overlook him.

DBs Bill Busch | C+

I'll cut Busch some slack, since he created his Twitter after being hired by Chris Ash. However, since then, it has just been recycled graphics. He acts younger than his age in real life, but he has yet to show it on Twitter. He is definitely a project and hopefully improves over the next few months.

Notable assistants

In general, the Twitter game of the new staff absolutely blows away that of the old staff. Guys like Mehringer and Kuhr add consistency and youth. The rest of the staff creates a great collaborative effort that thinks of new hashtags and mantras. We are kept updated and see things that we hadn't seen from the old guys. If they can coach as well as they tweet. the B1G East will be ours for years!