Derek Dooley on players use of social media
Last week we brought you the story of CNBC's Darren Rovell ripping into coaches who took the easy way out and banned their players from using Twitter and other social media. Rovell called this "ignorant and unfair" of the coaches.
Today, Derek Dooley chimed in on this topic. Dooley has established guidelines for his team; but does allow them to use social media.
Dooley stated that while banning players from using social media entirely would be easiest, that this wouldn't be the right way to teach young men, "Our job as coaches is that this is part of their growth process in their life. Social media is going to be there when they graduate. One way to look at it is to ban it and it's going to be someone else's problem when they get older. My belief is that we have a responsibility to educate them and teach them how to use it responsibility so when they get out of college they don't make a mistake that can get them fired....We are teaching them to be men when they are young. The best thing for our football team is for me to ban it. The best thing for what I believe is part of my job is to try to teach them how to use it responsibly. Now the risk with that is we are going to have some knuckleheads that use it irresponsibly and we are going to have to take away their privilege."