In the days leading up to National Signing Day, Bulldog Nation was sent into a furor — with a picture put on Facebook.

That’s right, Facebook.

The picture was one of Georgia’s top prospects, Da’Rick Rogers, kissing Tennessee’s 1998 national championship trophy.

Social media has changed the way coaches recruit players, adding more value to what prospects post on Facebook and Twitter. Photo illustration by Rachel G. Bowers

That photo led Georgia fans to correctly assume that Rogers would be switching his commitment from Georgia to Tennessee.

Sadly, that picture represents the changing face of the college football recruiting landscape.

Gone are the days where fans would find out who signed where on National Signing Day, while assuming the coaches of their respective favorite signed top prospects.

Instead, it is a day and age where prospects are under constant scrutiny — even their Facebooks — and grown men anxiously follow a prospect’s latest Tweet, posting comments in hopes of swaying prospects toward their favorite team.

After all, who doesn’t care what strangers say about a decision that affects the rest of their life?

“I know you’ve got to embrace some of these things, but my job is already encompassing enough,” recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner said of the world of social media. “I’m not going down certain roads right now until I have to.”

That’s not to say that the Internet superhighway doesn’t play into coaches’ recruiting strategies.

The different avenues allow committed prospects to exert their influence on prospects who have yet to declare their future to commit to the same college team.

“Most of the stuff they put on there are the actual person writing it on there, and recruiting also gets done through that,” said Jakar Hamilton, who enrolled at Georgia in January. “I’d hit a player up, get in touch with them and tell them, “Hey, coach is trying to get in touch with you. We need you, such and such, so Facebook really helps a lot if you’re trying to reach out to a player.’”

As much as coaches may be unwilling to embrace the various social media outlets themselves, the influence of the Internet on recruiting is undeniable.

Information can be found in a nanosecond, and prospects’ highlight videos litter YouTube and fan sites.

“I think the Internet has made things more visible to you as far as these highlight tapes and things like that. You get a little bit more focus on guys, so I think that things are a little more acceptable to you than they were in the past,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “I think there’s also more stuff out there that could be true or not be true, but I think you have to take all that with a grain of salt and get to know the players. I would say that obviously the internet has really expanded recruiting.”

Recruits are being vilified and rhapsodized earlier and earlier — all before even touching a college campus — and as a result, verbal commitments have become reservations, rather than commitments to uphold.

Georgia, for example, had four commitments renege before putting ink to paper.

One changed his mind in favor of Georgia after a prior commitment.

“Well, I think it’s just indicative of society, period,” Garner said of the rising rate of decommitments. “I think you’re going to have more indecision than what you used to have in the ’80s or early ’90s. That’s just our culture, and whether you like it or not, it’s just part of it. You win some and you lose some, and that’s part of the process.”

Added Hamilton: “It happens a lot, and in the SEC, you’re going to get hit regardless.”