"Same people are gonna be horrible to you the next week": LSU HC Kim Mulkey makes her feelings known on impact of social media on athletes

Kim Mulkey has been coaching for 25 years, from a time before social media was part of the game. However, the LSU coach has understood the good and bad of the new age social networking.

On Friday, Mulkey appeared on the "Get Gordon Presents" podcast and spoke about the impact of social media on young athletes.

"I don't have social media, but I always give good advice to the kids," Mulkey said (25:20). "If you're going to read social media when everything's good, and they love you and pat you on the back and all that stuff, you better be very willing to take the criticism. Because they're going to, same people who are going to be horrible to you the next week.

"So that's why I don't look at it. I don't care to look at it, but young people literally live on it, and you better be tough. You better have a core that's good, and you better have some callousness about you, because today they're going to really love you, and tomorrow they're going to really criticize you."

Although Mulkey says she doesn't use social media, she has an Instagram account with 214K followers. She also has an X account with 75.2K followers.

Mulkey began her coaching career at Louisiana State in 1985. She got her first head coaching gig at Baylor in 2000, where she won three national titles across 21 years.

In 2021, Mulkey was hired by LSU. She led the Tigers to the national championship in 2023.

Kim Mulkey opens up on MiLaysia Fulwiley's transfer to LSU

NCAA Womens Basketball: LSU Tigers HC Kim Mulkey - Source: Imagn

Kim Mulkey's LSU landed one of the biggest stars in the transfer portal this offseason in the form of MiLaysia Fulwiley. However, Mulkey said she didn't have to do much to convince the former South Carolina star to join her team.

“I think I spoke to her and her mother one time,” Mulkey said on the podcast. “She hasn’t even come here on a visit. She’s played against us enough to know our style of play. These young people do their homework. They look at rosters, rotations and where they can fit in. I think she already had her mind made up.”

Fulwiley began her collegiate career at South Carolina in 2023 and helped the team win the national title in her freshman year. The Gamecocks reached the national title game in 2025 as well, but lost to UConn in the finale.

Now, it will be interesting to see how Fulwiley fares under Kim Mulkey at LSU.