Urban Meyer could brag all day about his numbers: a 54-5 record in five season with the Ohio State Buckeyes, three national championships and an .854 career winning percentage, the highest among active FBS coaches with at least 10 years experience.
Then there’s this number: 1,009,534 Twitter followers and counting. The official Twitter account of Ohio State football congratulated Meyer on becoming the first college football coach to reach one million followers Monday.
“The BEST fans in the land!!” Meyer wrote. “Thank you Buckeye Nation!”
Asked about hitting that number in his weekly press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Meyer said, “If it helps us sign a good player, it’s great; if it doesn’t, I don’t care.”
A surge in fake followers got Meyer to one million. According to TwitterAudit.com, 41 percent of Meyer’s followers are real. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is right on Meyer’s heels with 1,002,410 followers, and 40 percent of his followers are real.
Here’s how the other Big Ten coaches stack up: Mike Riley, Nebraska (165,478); James Franklin, Penn State (136,832); Mark Dantonio, Michigan State (88,653); Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern (33,743); Lovie Smith, Illinois (29,231); Kevin Wilson, Indiana (27,080); Chris Ash, Rutgers (21,312); and Tracy Claeys, Minnesota (1,806).
Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst, Maryland’s D.J. Durkin and Purdue’s Darrell Hazell are not on Twitter.