The Iowa Hawkeyes won’t restrict Twitter access for players on the football team.
According to Adam Rittenberg, the Hawkeyes were originally going to restrict access to “one pre-approved tweet” a week, but “there are no restrictions” going forward. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The switch comes after many former players tweeted complaints against the program.
#Iowa clarifies social media policy for players. Original agreement last week called for one pre-approved tweet, but now there are no restrictions on players and their Twitter participation.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) June 8, 2020
Seriously, what the hell is going on in Iowa City? I used to think the Hawkeyes were one of the better-run teams in America.
Now, I’m starting to think I was very wrong when I believed that. You have to think this rule reversal is because of the chaos the program has found itself in recently.
This is a defining moment for the Iowa Hawkeye Football program: pic.twitter.com/ckEH39QVki
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020
If the program restricted Twitter access following tweets about strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, then it would have looked like they were censoring players.
The last thing a college football program needs or wants right now is to give off the sense that it’s censoring players. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Iowa players are sharing stories about racially charged treatment they received from strength coach Chris Doyle. Doyle is the highest paid strength coach in the country. https://t.co/KtVwvlwH9o
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) June 6, 2020
Here’s an idea. Just don’t tell young men what they can and can’t tweet. Teach them to be responsible and then let them handle it.
This is football. It’s not rocket science, but yet, Iowa somehow found a way to make it complicated. I truly didn’t see the Hawkeyes becoming a complete mess a story unfolding in 2020, but here we are.
“As a staff and as leaders, we will listen and take to heart the messages we hear.” pic.twitter.com/wqg2ZoX8pk
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020