Coach ,

We all know the influence of social media on our world in 2022 and it just keeps growing. It opens the opportunity to use branding as a way to build your units. 

There still has to be the buy-in created from creating the relationships that are behind the brand, but now, more than ever, the unity it can create can be a positive influence on our players.

When I first met Geoff Collins at the AAC media days in 2018, I was very impressed with how he utilized social media to create an easily identifiable brand at Temple. It was part of the program, and the success they had allowed him to move ahead to be the head coach of Georgia Tech.

This is something that he has always embraced eventhough the way it is now delivered through social media has changed. For him, having a vision and outline of how the team is supposed to be and a look for the team started for him even when he was at Division III Albright College.

At Gerogia Tech, he explained how he’s created the visual branding behind all of what the are doing and plan to do.

He explains it here (click on image for video):

Video: The Future of Atlanta's Collegiate Football Program

For Coach Collins it is a process and they continue to work on building their program and culture and the branding is a part of it.

The unit is another opportunity to build a brand that gives a visual repsresentation of the culture. On today’s Coach and Coordinator podcast, Joe Matheson talked about how they utilize the pandemic and over a year without games to focus on themselves. The result was they had the #2 offense in NCAA D3. Part of their success stemmed from the identity they developed and branded as “The Top Gun Offense.”

Coach and Coordinator Podcast: “Top Gun Offense”

Matt Guerrieri is a bright young coach who understands the power of branding and how it enhances buy-in. While he was the co-defensive coordinator at Duke, they branded their defense and each position group. He understands how powerful this becomes in social media. What we just used to put on a t-shirt, is amplified by social media and can spread virally in a community.  Coach Guerrieri explains how he utilizes branding here:

Video: Branding

It really becomes fun as you take the branding all the way down to your position group. Receivers coach at three-peat state champion Madison-Ridgeland Academy (MS) Joh Weaver calls it creating an “exclusive membership mentality.” Coach Weaver explains how it is about leaving a legacy and making an impact. Everyone doesn’t get in the club, but if you do, you get in for life. He explains how they created their position group brand of “ARB” in this video:

Video: Create a Name for Your Unit Group

It’s always been fun to belong to something that has a unique identity. That is nothing new, but in today’s world full of periods of time when our student-athletes have been isolated or relegated to a virtual world, the sense of belonging becomes very important for their well-being.

So have fun with this and like the coaches highlighted here, use it to create something powerful and meaningful for your players.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski