Given that our wait went from days to weeks to months, I for one wondered if Coach simply wouldn’t have time to send us any 140 character shout-outs. Fortunately, as of today, TwitterVols your wait has ended:

Coach Dooley's First Tweet

Furthermore, not only did Coach Dooley send out his first tweet today, he’s also shared a couple of Twitpics from his phone:

Coach Dooley's Grilling Project

We approve of his summer reading:

Coach Dooley's Summer Reading

Coach Dooley, as one of the TwitterVols, I’d like to thank you on behalf of the Vol Nation for joining us on Twitter. As you have time, we look forward to reading and re-tweeting your tweets and getting fired up about the Vols.

I have to hand it to Renaldo Woolridge (aka Swiperboy), he has some great hobbies to keep him busy when he’s not on the court. Here’s his latest music video shot on the UTK campus and featuring a Melvin Goins cameo at the 2:14 mark.

Welcome to GoVolsTweets @TJonesLive
Since I’ve been pretty busy with my day job the past couple of months, I’ve been lax in adding UT Sports personalities to the GoVolsTweets feed.  However, thanks to a hot tip from Danny Bowen of Memphis, I started following Vols Associate Head Coach Tony Jones (@TJonesLive) along with a slew of other persons I’d missed.

This morning, I saw that I couldn’t have picked a better time to start following Coach Jones as he laid down some post-game smack to all the media who we calling out the Vols as the first round “upset special”:

Bobby Maze Apologizes to Seth Davis of CBS
Speaking of Seth Davis I appreciated this exchange between point guard Bobby Maze and Seth Davis of CBS Sports:

Happy “Birthdays” Coach Pearl
Finally, I thought Clay Travis (author of Dixeland Delight and On Rock Top) summed up Coach Pearl’s 50th birthday experience nicely with this tweet:

Ugly Game, Beautiful Win
As I mentioned last night, it was an ugly game, but any win in March is a beautiful thing.  If the Vols hadn’t survived against SDSU last night, the “what ifs” would have stuck with us as SDSU played Ohio in the second round. Now, there’s no wondering. It’s “survive and advance” baby!

We’ll see you guys on Twitter. Go Vols!

According to Swiperboy, that’s enough views for the song to currently rank #4 in views on YouTube. I can’t confirm that, but I can say that we certainly enjoy his rhymes. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, enjoy:

With regards to SEC Football, the head coaches are no different than many other celebrities who have taken to “tweeting.” Twitter allows coaches (and perhaps any ghost writers who tweet for them) to energize their fanbase and take control of this easy-to-use online presence. A look at the Twitter stats of the head coaches will give us some insight into the Who’s Who of SEC Head Football Coaches on Twitter:

Most Followers

The first stat we’ll take a look at is the number of followers for a coach’s account. On Twitter, “followers” are like “fans.” In order to gain a follower, a Twitter user must click “Follow” on your profile. Once this happens, your updates appear in that person’s list of “Twitter” updates. The more followers an account has, the more popular that account is on Twitter. The following spreadsheet lists all twelve SEC Head Football Coaches by the number of their followers on Twitter:

At the time of this writing, I note that UT’s Lane Kiffin is at the top of the list. Furthermore, following the news of Kiffin’s mention in a Lil Wayne song, he’s gained 200-plus followers per day as compared to his usual pace of 74 new followers a day (See stats at TwitterCounter.com).

Most Updates

The process of updating Twitter is as simple as sending a text message from your mobile phone. As this USA Today article on LSU Coach Les Miles reports, the simplicity of Twitter makes it easy for the coaches themselves to actually be the ones using the service. So, who is the “most chatty” of the SEC Football Coaches on Twitter? Take a look below, and you might be surprised:

Kentucky’s Rich Brooks is way ahead of the pack with the number of Twitter updates. In fact, he’s so far ahead it makes me wonder if someone in the UKAD occasionally moonlights as his Twitter “ghost writer.” However, ghost writer or not, you’ve got to hand it to Coach Brooks’ Twitter stream for being quite chatty and even quaint at times.

Number of People Followed

While it certainly isn’t expected for any of the coaches to follow anyone back, on occasion they do follow back other coaches at their institutions, current and former players, and various other persons. Here’s a look at how the SEC Football Coaches rank by the number of people they are following:

People Kiffin is Following

Lane Kiffin also leads in this category. A quick check of the list of people he’s following shows a who’s who of current and former Vol Football players on Twitter along with Athletic Director Mike Hamilton, Coach Bruce Pearl and even yours truly. This shows that in addition to promoting UT Football, Kiffin is using Twitter to reach out to his current players, connect with past Vols and support other UT coaches and administration.

Miscellaneous Items

Will the Real Nick Saban please raise your hand?
In compiling this report, I had trouble figuring out which account for Nick Saban is real. There are three Twitter accounts for said ball coach:

• @NickSaban – obviously an impersonator
• @nicksabanALA – This account may have been opened by the ALAD just to combat the above account.
• @CoachNickSaban – This one seems like it might be real; however, I’m holding out on saying it is. (Can anyone confirm if this is the real Nick Saban?)

Houston Nutt Foils a Fake Twitter
In a scenario similar to Nick Saban’s, some Arkansas fans set up a fake account; however,  at the start of this season, Coach Nutt, opened his own account and seems to being doing pretty well.

Campaigning for Bobby
If you’re looking for Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino to join the SEC coaches on Twitter, this article from the Fayetteville Flyer will dash your hopes.

Old Skool Tweet for UT vs South Carolina

This week’s old skool “tweet” for UT vs. South Carolina courtesy of the Witt HomeCenter on Weisgarber Road.

Witt Home Center - Old Skool Tweet for UT v AL

To the best of our knowledge, the Witt Home Center on Weisgarber Road isn’t on Twitter; however, if they were, we would definitely “ReTweet” their weekly “Go Vols” themed messages posted each week during the football season.