The home page of Sawyer Racanelli’s Twitter account. Knowing college coaches often follow the accounts of recruits, the Hockinson junior is careful what he posts online. “I wouldn’t do anything that would disrespect my name and family,” he said.
In August, Sawyer Racanelli received several notifications on his phone.
He opened the Twitter app to find out multiple coaches at the University of Southern California were now following him.
Then he told his dad.
“I joked, ‘unless Clay Helton follows you, it’s not really that big of a deal,’ ” Josh Racanelli, Sawyer’s dad, said. “He turns the screen around and goes, ‘like this?’ ”
There it was. USC’s head football coach was following the Hockinson receiver from an official, verified account, the first hint that perhaps the storied Pac-12 program had the 16-year-old on its radar.
Maybe they’d seen his first-team all-state selection, or his 1,801 yards and 28 receiving touchdowns as a sophomore. With Twitter, big programs are able to keep an eye on recruits and, in turn, recruits know whose eyes are on them in ways unimaginable not long ago.
It has changed the way recruiting staffs at colleges have approached recruiting, and for kids, it has put an emphasis on public self promotion.
In early 2018, Sawyer started attending camps at big schools, such as University of Washington, Arizona State and Oregon State. During basketball season, he said an Eastern Washington coach reached out through his cousin, EWU commit Simon Burkett, and told him, “your cousin is a baller, get him to come by.”
From there, Sawyer received his first offer, from Oregon State, in April. That must have caught the eyes of other programs.
“Coaches started to show interest,” Sawyer said. “Twitter kick-started it.”
At that point, it was proof to the Racanellis that big programs were watching.
The NCAA bars coaches from speaking with athletes until Sept. 1 of their junior year, except to invite him to a camp.
The dynamic social media creates in the recruiting process didn’t exist when Josh Racanelli, a former Boise State quarterback and now Hockinson offensive coordinator, was recruited.
Josh Racanelli recalls editing VHS tapes filled with highlights and sending them to coaches by snail mail. It wasn’t until he made an appearance at a Boise State camp going into his senior year that a coach expressed interest.
That’s what makes watching his son’s rise remarkable to him. He serves as a voice of reason, yet…
“I’m just shocked at the attention,” Josh Racanelli said. “Virginia, Alabama-Birmingham, schools all the way across the country, Purdue, it’s crazy they’ve looked at your film and you’re 3,000 miles away.”
Sawyer must, in essence, curate a personal brand around his skill-set. He hears the cautionary tales of recruits losing scholarships over ill-advised tweets, and he makes sure not to wade into those waters. That part came naturally.
“Kids will swear and argue, just high school beef, and I stay away from that,” Sawyer Racanelli said. “I don’t want to screw up any chance I have getting a scholarship. Just go from a respect thing. I wouldn’t do anything that would disrespect my name and family.”
He keeps a very tight social-media profile, befitting of his demeanor off the gridiron.
Every once in a while, he’ll have so-called recruiting experts weigh in on his social media presence. National recruiting services, such as 247Sports, can serve as a hefty signal boost if he is retweeted, or mentioned.
Coaches must be fluent in the Twitter and Instagram world of high school athletes, and the athletes must learn to become, in a sense, personal brands on the fly.
There are many ways coaches still indicate to a recruit they are interested, and the players are free to reach out however they wish.
Having a group of coaches from elite football schools follow him on social media has become the norm for Sawyer Racanelli.
NCAA rules allow them to speak directly to the player’s high school coach. Washington and UCLA have contacted Hockinson coach Rick Steele to request Racanelli’s unofficial transcript, according to Josh Racanelli. Both Steele, Sawyer and his dad have had conversations with college coaches interested.
Sawyer Racanelli grew up in the age of social media, and he has been quick to adapt to the rules and norms when it comes to maintaining a personal brand. He’s smart about what he says — and doesn’t say. His account has about 800 followers, his short bio touts his state championship and Christian values, his pinned tweet announces his Oregon State offer, and includes pictures of him and his parents in Beaver gear.
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Often this is the entry point to a college coach’s vetting process.
It has come to his surprise, though, how directly coaches can communicate with him, without even saying anything.
To other recruits in Clark County, such as Union’s Lincoln Victor and Darien Chase, Racanelli says they encourage and congratulate each other on offers and milestones, but don’t necessarily compare notes on what the process is like.
Through it all, Sawyer hasn’t had trouble staying grounded. Between his immediate family, and a couple coaches, he keeps his circle of trust tight, too.
He focuses on the football, and let’s the rest follow. The circus of recruiting? He’s getting used to it.
“It’s fun. But it’s stressful. It’s a waiting game,” Sawyer said. “It’s super cool but it’s like, I wonder what’s going to happen next, other than that, I like it.”
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