Ohio State New & Creative Media Dir Zach Swartz (@zswartz0407) joined the football staff last spring, with coach Urban Meyer telling Swartz he wanted to be innovative and cutting edge in the team's presence on social media. Swartz said, “When I interviewed, I wasn’t sure what value a head coach would put into social media and graphic design and video, but it became pretty clear to me that it was incredibly important. It was, ‘Can we be the best in the country? Can you be the best in the country at what you do? And can we make the recruiting department the best in the country?’”
Developing a highly regarded social media presence:
My first gameplan was to start a Twitter account; we didn’t even have a Twitter account. For me, I worked with football a lot at Arkansas -- my position was with the athletic department, which is how most athletic departments are set up. It was a good opportunity to focus on one sport. What was really cool for me was, I report directly to Director of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni, so everything we do is aimed at recruits. My primary goal isn’t really social media, but content production and getting that in front of recruit’s eyes. The social part is big for branding, and it obviously helps to get it out there. The main goal is to produce unique content and make sure recruits see it.
Staying ahead of the content curve:
Technology is a big one. All this technology is starting to get affordable. You can make really professional looking content with an iPhone and a gimbal. There’s so much stuff out there that four, five years ago would have been an investment. Now it’s a $300 camera that you can make something look really professional. I always look at what other schools are doing. It’s not taking their idea, but seeing how they use a piece of technology and how it might fit in our department.
Restrictions from the coaching staff:
Once you spend time with the coaches, you come to expect what they want out there. There’s a fine line between giving respect to the players and things that should be kept in house and documenting what’s put out there. I shoot a lot of stuff that I don’t put out there because I want to keep it between the players and coaches.
Creative Process at OSU:
That was one of the things when I came in that I wanted to make clear; I want it to a collaborative environment. I didn’t want it to be me standing in front of everyone saying this is what we’re doing. That’s not how ideas are created. Our graphic designers are in an office with the rest of the recruiting staff, and then I have my own office. We’re kind of separated, but we try to meet a couple times a week.
Managing the offseason:
I started right at the end of spring ball, which gave me a quick introduction of what summer looks like for football. I got a quick dose of how to be creative with what we’re producing. How do we make something that might seem mundane to a player because they are so used to doing it, look cool or give it whatever factor it needs to make a recruit say wow that’s unique. Even during dead periods, we still have to be producing that content. My goal is to have something out every day, even during the offseason.
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