Was Bryan Harsin Saying ‘Twitiots’ A Big Deal Or Not
What to make of Harsin’s comments.
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Was he fine in what he said?
Our staff of Boise State writers and a few non-Boise State writers decided to comment on Bryan Harsin and what he meant to say.
Here is the video of Harsin’s comments.
Jeremy: Being someone who is not someone is a Boise State fan in terms of growing up rooting for the team or being a student at the university. So, with that said, I feel I have a different perspective compared to what our Boise State writers may have to say about Harsin’s comments.
First off, I get his point that anyone can have an opinion and get sent out to the masses through social media which as we all know can be great and also terrible, mostly terrible. While there are parts where I agree with Harsin’s overall message of non-experts of the game of football chiming in to complain or critique his team, but using a negative term like “twitiots” probably wasn’t the best way to get his point across.
For every team that is amazing there will be fans who are not happy. Even Nick Saban at Alabama finds things to complain about from fans not showing up and he has been the dean of college football coaches for the better part of a decade in Tuscaloosa.
One area of Harsin’s comments that were possibly the most interesting to me is that he cares a lot more about people who pay to be part of the program, specifically boosters. I get how boosters can have a lot of influence, just look at Florida State which rallied boosters to pay the massive buyout to remove Willie Taggert.
Here is what Harsin said about boosters.
“I’m not going to listen to opinions unless they matter. A booster texts me and tells me something like that, people I care about, that I interact with, that are a part of this team, and have invested and are around here and see these guys, man, I’m listening, 100 percent.”
I can guarantee fully that there are boosters who are critical of Boise State in some form or another and probably say as much on Twitter. Just because they donate money to the football program does not mean that they are experts in football and automatically should be trusted. Hopefully, Harsin can filter out those who aren’t as versed in football as he is.
I get it, the expectations are extremely high for Boise State football which has sustained unprecedented success since moving up to Division I. However, fans can critique the team in a close loss if they want to or even in a blowout loss — the latter seems over the top in a three-plus touchdown win.
Sometimes fans are just frustrated and vent when their team isn’t perfect, so what. The way Harsin goes through throws down the block hammer I am surprised any negativity seeps into his consciousness. If he is that concerned then tell players they shouldn’t or even can’t be on social media during the season to shield them from the negativity.
Raja: If you listen to the press conference and the quote, Coach Harsin is basically saying that he personally doesnt let negativity from folks who do not directly impact his football team affect his life… and obviously he should not. Why would he endorse random people on twitter that likely are too busy tweeting to watch/attend the game influence his offensive line. Sure they aren’t perfect but like Harsin said he, his staff, and his players are going to work to fix that.
Coach Harsin’s comments about booster’s mattering appears to be taken out of context a bit by the masses. I believe Coach Harsin was saying that he respects those voices since he knows where they are coming from and knows they are coming from people who have invested in the program a bit. While he could have worded that a bit differently, it makes sense that he would pay attention to those folks more so than random twitter folks.
Lastly, Coach Harsin is a former football player and current head coach. He is an alpha leader. You think he is going to respect some guy who has never played, never put his hand down on the turf and banged in the lines, never practiced multiple times a day…? Yes, a part of his job is to address the media and be an ambassador but his main job is to lead his team to success on the football field and he is wildly successful on that front, regardless of the minority fanbase who wants to go undefeated or head to a New Year’s Six bowl every year.
Matt: The first thing I thought of after I read Bryan Harsin’s comments were the immortal words of former baseball great Jeff Kent: “Enjoy the game more.”
I don’t think Harsin is wrong, then, but compartmentalization isn’t a remarkable skill so stumping for its necessity isn’t really what I’d call a brave stance, so this “story” is a molehill not worth making into a mountain. He’s just stating the obvious. This type of dialogue has always existed, it’s just that social media has made it entirely inescapable; every profession has its primary stakeholders, so of *course* you’re going to value some inputs more others.
I might nitpick his use of the broad word “opinion”, since most of what he refers to in decrying “twitiots” can more accurately be described as “bitching and moaning on the hellsite” (mad respect if that phrase comes up in a future press conference, by the way) that isn’t designed to solicit serious response or conversation as much as it is just to… well, complain. That’s all I really have to say about it.
Erik: Twitiots, boosters, and creating a divide in the fan base. Those are the three things I hear the most about coming out of Coach Harsin’s press conference.
I can fall into the category of Twitiot every now and then. In the moment I let emotion get the better of logic and I say something outlandish. Unfortunately, there are people who make those comments on a regular basis and it can be incredibly frustrating, even from the outside looking in. So, on that front I have to completely agree with Harsin that they should be ignored.
Now the booster vs the fan narrative that I have seen only further Harsin’s point on the “everyone gets a voice and it’s usually negative.” He values the opinions of the boosters and those closely connected to the team more than what some people on the internet or on call in shows, as he should in my opinion.
With the negative spin that can be placed on that, of course it turned into Harsin pandering to those who can afford to be involved in that way as opposed to he’s not going to listen to what some random person on social media says and I like that he is standing up for the players that receive that treatment as well.
There is a lot of pressure on the Broncos. Year in and year out they are expected to be the top G5 team and any time they fail to be there is going to be a small but loud group that will turn a now 8-1 season into an absolute failure. I think the program handles that pressure extremely well and it’s understandable that people in the program can get frustrated and snap back at something once or twice.
Basically, I think everything he said was fine. Although avoiding, my now favorite term, Twitiot would have probably been better for readers and listeners not missing the point of what he is driving at.
Collin: I listened and watched the presser multiple times. I agree with Matt in that this “rant” was built up to be a much bigger deal than it actually was in reality. If I had to summarize Coach Harsin’s comments, I would simply say that he does not understand the reasoning behind all of the negativity on social media. He was not only referring to the individual’s being critical of Boise State Football, he was making a general statement. In fact, his initial comments on the subject were specifically not related to football.
His comments about who is allowed to provide feedback were also taken rather dramatically. I believe he was using boosters as an example of an individual that is invested in Bronco Football on multiple levels, and more than likely has been for many years. Fans who attend games when they can, follow the team to the best of their abilities and see the positives along with the negatives are the individuals that Harsin was referring to as a “booster or season ticket holder” that matter.
I whole-heartedly believe that Coach Harsin’s primary concern around the negativity seen on social media, is for his players, rather than for himself. Contrary to a few “twitiot” opinions, I do think he is an adult that is capable of processing criticism from complete strangers. I do however recognize that this may not be as easy for 18-22-year-old athletes that may or may not be accustomed to being directly called out by strange adults on the social media platforms they are used to having fun with their friends on.
