Washington State's search for a defensive coordinator continues, though depending on how many tea leaves you like to read, we may already know who it will be. Manny Diaz's name was tossed out by many as one of the early potential candidates. There haven't been many rumblings since, but Twitter did give us a potential clue.
Jim Mastro is WSU's running back coach. Jim Mastro recently followed Diaz on Twitter:
Mastro only follows 96 people on Twitter, which isn't a lot by most Twitter standards. That doesn't, however, mean Diaz is going to be WSU's next defensive coordinator. Maybe Mastro just happened to follow Diaz for his good tweets. How could you not with gold like this:
Even the fancy lit up tower ball thingy knows what's up. Go Dogs. @HODBowl pic.twitter.com/Ic6SpONF02
— Manny Diaz (@Coach_MannyDiaz) December 26, 2014
Let's dig a little deeper. None of the other WSU coaches recently followed Diaz, so no quick and easy connection there. Diaz isn't following anyone with ties to WSU, including Mike Leach. But, Diaz does follow Billy Corben, director of multiple ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries. You know who else directed a 30 for 30 documentary? Peter Berg. You know who is good friends with Peter Berg? Yup, Mike Leach. Boom.
Still not convinced? Let's go back to Mastro's Twitter to see what else we can find. With him only following 96 people, maybe there is a pattern that will help us.
Chris Vannini CoachingSearch.com a website decidated to college football coach rumors. Clearly Mastro wants to be up on the latest rumors. If he were up on the latest rumors, he'd probably know if Diaz was coming to WSU ...
Also, coach, clearly Kyle Sweet has a new Twitter. You can stop following the old one.
Ohhhh a twist. Mastro also follows Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter. Maybe DeRuyter is going to be the new defensive coordinator! Or maybe Mastro is going to go to Fresno State. Either way, hopefully Keyshawn Johnson isn't the next DC. Unless "give me the damn ball" is his strategy for forcing turnovers.
Mastro obviously likes to keep up with his WSU news. This article was tweeted by @CougCenter and since Mastro follows us, that could mean he's reading this right now. If that's the case, thanks for following coach and feel free to announce the new DC in the comments below.
I ... uhh ... let's see. Britney Spears was spotted wearing a Texas Longhorns shirt earlier this year. Guess where Diaz used to coach, oh that's right Texas. Not good enough? Kim Kardashian was married to Kris Humphries who plays in the NBA. Paul Millsap also plays in the NBA and Millsap went to Louisiana Tech, the same school Diaz currently coaches at. CLEARLY Mastro has been gathering extensive info on Diaz, even using tidbits from very distant third parties. I'd also like to point out that Mastro follows two of the three Kardashian sisters. Burn on the third.
If those varying degrees of separation aren't enough, this should definitely put you over the top. Mastro first tweeted on Dec. 16. On the surface it appears simple:
First tweet ever. Great Day to be a Coug!! #whosnext
— Coach Mastro (@jim_mastro) December 17, 2014
Now remember, "Great Day to be a Coug" is what the WSU football twitter tweets when the Cougars receive a verbal commitment. Still, that had nothing to do with Diaz, right? Wrong.
Let me clear my throat #ARROOOFF #WhosNext
— Manny Diaz (@Coach_MannyDiaz) April 11, 2014
Obviously by using the same #WhosNext that Diaz used just a mere eight months ago combined with the WSU bat signal for receiving a commitment of some sort, Mastro was dropping a hint that Diaz verbally committed to become next defensive coordinator. Could not be more obvious.
So what did we learn here today? We learned Jim Mastro follows 96 people on Twitter, one of which happens to be potential WSU defensive coordinator candidate Manny Diaz. That could mean something or that could mean literally nothing and you just wasted your time reading the previous 672 words.
That's all for this Twitter investigation. We'll be back next week with a closer look at whether Mike Leach's use of hashtags really does mean he's going to take the Houston job.