Matt Campbell has certainly made an impression on Iowa State fans in his two years as Iowa State’s football coach. But a Twitter account in his likeness has made waves throughout the internet as well.

Ya Boy Matt Campbell (@NotMattCampbell) might not be the real Matt Campbell, but with over 7,700 followers, the fake Campbell certainly has a voice with fans, too. And the real Campbell is well aware of the account.

“People have certainly brought that to my attention,” Campbell—the real Campbell, that is—said with a laugh. “I just laugh. Sometimes I feel like that person’s in my head and sometimes I think ‘this guy’s crazy,’ whoever the person is. I find it humorous. Do I follow it? No, but I certainly get updated on what wildness gets said on there sometimes.”

But who runs the account? How did it start? The Daily spoke with Jay from Toledo, Ohio, who runs the @NotMattCampbell account, to answer those questions and more.

Additionally, check out some of Ya Boy Matt Campbell’s greatest tweets.

Iowa State Daily: How and when did the account start?

Ya Boy Matt Campbell: I actually just got a notification on Twitter a couple days ago that said the account had turned five years old. I started this when I was in school at Toledo and I can’t remember exactly if there was one defining moment that gave me the idea or not, but I just figured there were a lot of parody accounts back then for a lot of different coaches and I just thought maybe I could turn this into something. There wasn’t anything like that for Matt Campbell. I kind of figured he would eventually leave and go onto a bigger stage, which he has.

I didn’t really have any expectations for the account. I just thought if I could get 500 followers or 1,000 followers and have some fun with it, that would be great. It kind of took off pretty soon after I started. It became kind of a talking point [with the media and fans at Toledo]. It surpassed my expectations even here at Toledo. Now it’s much bigger than I ever thought it possibly could be.

ISD: There are other parody accounts out there—@FauxPelini may be the first to come to mind. Did you try to model the account after any other accounts? What was your strategy?

YBMC: There’s a few different accounts I model it after. I think it’s half Faux Pelini, half Ya Boy Bill Nye the Science Guy (@YaBoyBillNye). With Matt, he’s not very hip or cool, he’s just a total dad. So I thought if I could give him this alter ego, it could basically make him look like a college kid, like to say these things he would never actually say. I thought that would be kind of funny as people got to know him because it’s something totally different than he actually is.

ISD: What are the best and worst parts of running the account?

YBMC: Right now, the best part is just the interaction with all the Iowa State fans. When [Campbell] left Toledo for Iowa State, at first I didn’t even know if I was gonna keep doing it. I thought at first, doing this from afar would be really difficult and in some ways, it has been. But the best part is the fans. Iowa State fans really seem to embrace it. Not being there, it’s hard for me to know just how big of a thing this has become.

I remember after the TCU game for example, for 24 hours after that game, my notification feed wouldn’t stop. I’d read like 20, then refresh it and I’d have 20 more. It was like that for 24 hours, I couldn’t believe it. That’s been the coolest part. I’ve never been to Ames, I knew nothing about Iowa State football before Campbell got there. But I’ve sort of learned and tried to take an interest in the program, but the people seem like really down to earth people who just want their football program to be successful. That’s been a lot of fun for me.

The worst part, well, there aren’t too many downsides to it. But the worst part is doing it from afar. It’s definitely been a challenge. When I was doing it in Toledo I could reference a lot of local culture that everybody understood. I could reference a specific place or a specific bar but I can’t do that because I don’t know what’s [in Ames]. So I’ve had to reinvent myself in some ways.

“[Campbell]’s not very hip or cool, he’s just a total dad.”

ISD: Some of the coaches have referenced you before. What has that been like?

YBMC: It’s far beyond anything I ever really expected. One of the things that I didn’t want to happen was to set up this account and then to have either Matt himself hate it or players hate it. I didn’t want them to think it was a distraction or a negative. I don’t think that has — a lot of assistants follow the account, I’ve heard Matt reference it more than once, so it seems like everyone associated with the program takes it for what it is and they laugh along with it. That’s a relief for me.

ISD: Take me through a gameday. What do you do when Iowa State’s playing a home game?

YBMC: Well the first thing I have to do is figure out what channel it’s on. That’s a challenge sometimes. Most of them are on TV here through Fox or FS1 so that hasn’t been too big of a challenge. I guess with gameday, it’s just sort of watching along. Nothing I tweet during games is planned ahead of time. It’s all just in the moment. There are a couple exceptions. Like if Iowa State kicks a field goal I’ll say “field goals are weird, it’s kind of like…” I’ll usually plan out one or two of those since people seem to enjoy those.

field goals are weird it’s kind of like when you accidentally buy the unfrosted pop tarts like they’re still OK but not quite as fulfilling

— Ya Boy Matt Campbell (@NotMattCampbell) November 4, 2017

Everything else you see from the account in a game is totally in the moment. I’m just trying to think on my feet and be as funny as I can.

ISD: Can you think of any of the biggest, funniest tweets from the account?

YBMC: Oh wow. I think the one that’s pinned at the top of the profile right now about Bill Snyder is probably up there. That was retweeted and favorited quite a bit.

had a super nice chat with Bill Snyder before the game I thanked him for his service during the War of 1812

— Ya Boy Matt Campbell (@NotMattCampbell) November 25, 2017

The one that was the most popular or retweeted was after the TCU game, I actually broke character, which I think I’ve only done twice ever. I just kind of posted how cool it was to watch them in the celebration and see them enjoy a moment that [the fans] have been wanting seemingly for so long and haven’t really gotten it. That one blew up quite a bit.

ISD: What’s the key to running a parody account?

YBMC: I think one of the things I’ve always kept in mind is I try not to be mean-spirited. I think a lot of parody accounts can almost get kind of nasty. There’s a fine line between poking somebody and joking around, and actually being a jerk. That’s one thing I always keep in mind. The other thing is interacting with the people that follow the account. I’ll admit I’m probably not as good about that as I should be, but I try to keep them involved and keep things fresh.

Occasionally I’ll mix in like a gameday itinerary. I’ll just have a bunch of stuff like a list and just make it look semi-official. I’ll throw one of those out there. I had a 12 days of Christmas song that I came up with and I posted that in December.

“That’s a fanbase that has stuck it out for so long. They seem just as passionate, just as hungry for success as any other fanbase and that’s really cool.”

ISD: Now that you’ve run the account for Campbell’s two years at Iowa State, what are your thoughts on Iowa State twitter and the fanbase in general?

YBMC: When he first took the job, I was hoping he was gonna go somewhere a little bit sexier. I thought, “man, Iowa State?” I knew nothing about the program or the fanbase. The only thing I knew is that they were really bad for a long time. I kind of assuming that because of that, well great, he’s going someplace where nobody really cares.

I quickly realized I was definitely wrong on that. That’s a fanbase that has stuck it out for so long. They seem just as passionate, just as hungry for success as any other fanbase and that’s really cool. That’s one of the most fun things, just to see how they react. Especially with this past season.

I turned on the Liberty Bowl and it’s like 30,000 Iowa State fans for a random bowl game, like that’s incredible. You see some bowl games that are better and the stands are half-empty. It seemed like they brought half of Ames with them to Memphis. Seeing stuff like that is really cool for me.

ISD: Do you have any plans to come to Ames?

YBMC: I’m definitely gonna get out there in 2018. What I’ll probably do is take a selfie or something so people can see what I look like. Then I’ll just say “hey, come find me” and walk around the tailgates. I think we’ll have a good time.

There is something in the works, a potential Ya Boy Matt Campbell tailgate, for whatever game I decide to get out there for. The wheels are in motion. I’m planning to be out there for the opening game or the home game against Akron, that’s what we’re shooting for.