By JASON ELMQUIST

Stillwater News Press

STILLWATER — National Signing Day has come a long way since Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy committed to be a Cowboy in the ‘80s – or even since he took over as head coach at his alma mater in 2005.

It has now become a national holiday for college football fans, and with the ever-growing use of social media, those fans are able to interact even more with future players.

“There were a lot of guys changing their minds and changing their schools this year, I think the reason for that is the Internet and the information that’s out there,” Gundy said. “There’s so much out there now, and I think the fans play a role in that because they can contact the recruits – and I think they are a huge impact in recruiting now, whether we as coaches like to believe it’s not.

“I think the fans that are contacting these players can affect the way they think. You never know why kids do what they do, but I’m convinced that with some of the ones we were involved with this year that they were affected by people who were contacting them on their Twitter account.”