MKRob Sports

They are 140 characters University of Miami coach Randy Shannon could do without.

Some college football and basketball coaches across the country have gotten caught up in the social-networking craze that is Twitter. They say it helps to promote the program, but is more important as a recruiting tool. For all its advantages, Shannon and his staff have chosen to ignore it.

“I’m just really not into it,” Shannon said recently. “It doesn’t interest me.”

Shannon and recruiting coordinator Aubrey Hill both declined further comment, but could the absence of “tweets” keep the Hurricanes behind in the highly competitive and changing world of recruiting? Time will tell, but most say UM will do fine without it.

“We’ll see how much of an impact [Twitter] really makes,” said Bruce Feldman, a college football writer for ESPN.com. “It really doesn’t seem like Randy Shannon’s style to create something like that, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have an assistant or recruiting coordinator promoting the program a bit.”