Hawkeye assistant coach tweets with style and information

Iowa recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach Eric Johnson is active in social media. He boasts 1,261 followers on his Twitter page (@HawkeyeCoachEJ), which seems to grow daily.

Johnson provides keeps fans updated with vague recruiting updates - “A little late, but we've got a new member of the family” - to stay in compliance with NCAA rules. But he scoffs at the thought that he's embraced the medium, however.

“It comes out of necessity,” Johnson said. “Nobody is going to be seeing pictures of my kids or wife on it in any respect. It's just kind of the way recruiting is going right now. You either keep up with the times or you fall by the wayside. When I have a little bit of time, I'll say something every now and then hoping to garner some people's attention.”

Johnson seems a little uncomfortable with the intense interest about his tweets saying “It's a little bit sick, actually.”

“I tweeted one night about watching Sunday night HBO, and I think I had more responses about that than anything,” Johnson said. “It's kind of funny what people sit on their couch and do at night and to follow somebody as boring as myself.”

Johnson does take delight in making the Iowa media dig for recruiting information once he tweets “Just got a new member of the Hawkeye family!” like he did on July 17.

“That may be the best part of this aspect is watching you guys do some work,” Johnson said.